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-::iC-f .- ANCIENT AND MEDIEVAL GEMS 

I. Steatite, from Crete; two lions with forefeet on a pedestal; above, a sun. 2. Sardonyx 
from Elis; a goddess holding up a goat by the horns. 3- Rock crystal; a bearded Triton. 
4. Carnelian; a youth playing a trigonon. 5- Chalcedony from Athens; a Bacchante. 
6. Sard; a woman reading a manuscript roll; before her a lyre. 7- Carnelian; Theseus. 
8. Chalcedony; portrait head; Hellenistic Age. 9. Aquamarine; portrait of Julia, daughter 
of the emperor Titus. 10. Chalcedony; portrait head; Hellenistic Age. 11. Carnelian; bust 
portrait of the Roman emperor Decius. 12. Beryl; portrait of Julia Domna, wife of the 
emperor Septimius Severus. 13. Sapphire; head of the Madonna. 14. Carnelian; the judg- 
ment of Paris; Renaissance work. 15. Rock crystal; Madonna with Jesus and St. Joseph; 
probably Norman-Sicilian work. 



EARLY 
EUROPEAN HISTORY 

BY 

HUTTON WEBSTER, Ph.D. 

PROFESSOR IN THE UNIVERSITY OF NEBRASKA 

AUTHOR OF "ancient HISTORY," "READINGS IN ANCIENT HISTORY," 

AND "readings IN MEDIEVAL AND MODERN HISTORY" 



" There is no part of history so generally useful 
as that which relates to the progress of the human 
mind, the gradual improvement of reason, the suc- 
cessive advances of science, the vicissitudes of 
learning and ignorance, which are the light and 
darkness of thinking beings, the extinction and 
resuscitation of arts, and the revolutions of the 
intellectual world." — Samuel Johnson, Rasselas. 



D. C. HEATH & CO., PUBLISHERS 

BOSTON NEW YORK CHICAGO 



J1103 



WEBSTER'S HISTORIES 



Webster's Ancient History 

From prehistoric times to the Age of Charlemagne 

Webster's Early European History 

From prehistoric times to the seventeenth century 

Webster's Early European History — Part I 

The Ancient History section of the above book 

Webster's Early European History — Part II 
From the fall of Rome to the seventeenth century 

Webster's Readings in Ancient History 

Webster's Readings in Medieval and Modern 
History 



D. C. HEATH & CO., Publishers 



COPYRIGHT, I917, 

BY D. C. HEATH & CO. 

IC7 



APR 18 1917 

5C!.A482018 



PREFACE 

Tms book aims to furnish a concise and connected account of 
human progress during ancient, medieval, and early modern times. 
It should meet the requirements of those high schools and prepara- 
tory schools where ancient history, as a separate discipline, is being 
supplanted by a more extended course introductory to the study of 
recent times and contemporary problems. Such a course was first 
outlined by the Regents of the University of the State of New York 
in their Syllabus for Secondary Schools, issued in igio. 

Since the appearance of the Regents' Syllabus the Committee of 
Five of the American Historical Association has made its Report 
(191 1), suggesting a rearrangement of the curriculum which would 
permit a year's work in English and Continental history. Still 
more recently the Committee on Social Studies of the Commission 
on the Reorganization of Secondary Education, in its Report (1916) 
to the National Education Association has definitely recommended 
the division of European history into two parts, of which the first 
should include ancient and Oriental civilization, English and Con- 
tinental history to approximately the end of the seventeenth century, 
and the period of American exploration. 

The first twelve chapters of the present work are based upon the 
author's Ancient History, published four years ago. In spite of 
many omissions, it has been possible to follow without essential 
modification the plan of the earlier volume. A number of new maps 
and illustrations have been added to these chapters. 

The selection of collateral reading, always a difficult problem in the 
secondary school, is doubly difficult when so much ground must be 
covered in a single course. The author ventures, therefore, to call 
attention to his Readings in Ancient History. Its purpose, in the 
words of the preface, is "to provide immature pupils with a variety 
of extended, unified, and interesting extracts on matters which a 
textbook treats with necessary, though none the less deplorable, 
condensation." A companion volume, entitled Readings in Medieval 



IV 



Preface 



and Modern History, will be published shortly. References to both 
books are inserted in footnotes. 

At the end of what has been a long and engrossing task, it becomes 
a pleasant duty to acknowledge the help which has been received 
from teachers in school and college. Various chapters, either in 
manuscript or in the proofs, have been read by Professor James M. 
Leake of Bryn Mawr College; Professor J. C. Hildt of Smith College; 
Very Rev. Patrick J. Healy, Professor of Church History in the 
Catholic University of America; Professor E. F. Humphrey of Trinity 
College; Dr. James Sullivan, Director of the Division of Archives 
and History, State Dept. of Education of New York; Constantine E. 
McGuire, Assistant Secretary General, International High Commis- 
sion, Washington; Miss Margaret E. McGill, of the Newton (Mass.) 
High School; and Miss Mabel Chesley, of the Erasmus Hall High 
School, Brooklyn. The author would also express appreciation of 
the labors of the cartographers, artists, and printers, to whose 
accuracy and skill every page of the book bears witness. 

BUTTON WEBSTER 

Lincoln, Nebraska, 
February, 19 17 



CONTENTS 

PAGE 

List of Illustrations xiii 

List of Maps . . . .- xx 

List of Plates xxiii 

Suggestions for Further Study xxiv 

CHAPTER 

I. The Ages before History. 

L The Study of History 1 

• 2. Prehistoric Peoples 3 

3. Domestication of Animals and Plants 6 

4. Writing and the Alphabet 8 

5. Primitive Science and Art 11 

6. Historic Peoples 15 

II. The Lands and Peoples of the East to about 500 b.c. 

7. Physical Asia 19 

8. Babylonia and Egypt 22 

9. The Babylonians and the Egyptians 24 

10. The Phoenicians and the Hebrews 29 

11. The Assyrians 34 

12. The World Empire of Persia 37 

III. Oriental Civilization. 

13. Social Classes 42 

14. Economic Conditions 44 

15. Commerce and Trade Routes 47 

16. Law and Morality 50 

17. Religion 52 

18. Literature and Art 56 

19. Science and Education 60 

IV. The Lands of the West and the Rise of Greece to 

ABOUT 500 B.C. 

20. Physical Europe 65 

21. Greece and the ^gean 66 

22. The ^gean Age (to about 1100 B.C.) 68 

23. The Homeric Age (about 1100-750 B.C.) .... 72 

24. Early Greek Religion 75 

V 



vi Contents 

CHAPTER PAGE 

25. Religious Institutions: Oracles and Games ... 78 

26. The Greek City-State 81 

27. The Growth of Sparta (to 500 B.C.) 83 

28. The Growth of Athens (to 500 B.C.) 85 

29. Colonial Expansion of Greece (about 750-500 B.C.) 87 

30. Bonds of Union among the Greeks 90 

V. The Great Age of the Greek Republics to 362 b.c. 

31. The Perils of Hellas 93 

32. Expeditions of Darius against Greece 95 

33. Xerxes and the Great Persian War 97 

34. Athens under Themistocles, Aristides, and Cimon. 100 

35. Athens under Pericles 103 

36. The Peloponnesian War, 431-404 b.c 108 

37. The Spartan and Theban Supremacies, 404-362 

B.c Ill 

38. Decline of the City-State 113 

VI. Mingling of East and West after 359 b.c. 

39. Philip and the Rise of Macedonia 115 

40. Demosthenes and the End of Greek Freedom . . 117 

41. Alexander the Great 119 

42. Conquest of Persia and the Far East, 334-323 B.C. 122 

43. The Work of Alexander 125 

44. Hellenistic Kingdoms and Cities 127 

45. The Hellenistic Age 130 

46. The Grsco-Oriental World 133 

VII. The Rise of Rome to 264 b.c. 

47. Italy and Sicily 136 

48. The Peoples of Italy 137 

49. The Romans 140 

50. Early Roman Society "... 143 

51. Roman Religion 145 

52. The Roman City-State 149 

53. Expansion of Rome over Italy, 509 (?)-264 B.C. . 153 

54. Italy under Roman Rule 155 

55. The Roman Army 158 

VIII. The Great Age of the Roman Republic, 264-31 b.c. 

56. The Rivals: Rome and Carthage, 264-218 b.c. . 162 

57. Hannibal and the Great Punic War, 218-201 B.C. 164 

58. Roman Supremacy in the West and in the East, 

201-133 B.c 168 

59. The Mediterranean World under Roman Riile . . 171 



Contents vii 

CHAPTER PAGE 

60. The Gracchi 174 

61. Marius and Sulla 178 

62. Pompey and Caesar 180 

63. The Work of Caesar 186 

64. Antony and Octavian 188 

65. The End of an Epoch 190 

IX. The Early Empire: the World under Roman Rule, 

31 B.C.-180 A.D. 

66. Augustus, 31 B.C.-14 a.d 193 

67. The Successors of Augustus, 14-96 a.d 197 

68. The " Good Emperors," 96-180 a.d 200 

69. The Provinces of the Roman Empire 202 

70. The Roman Law and the Latin Language .... 206 

71. The Municipahties of the Roman Empire .... 208 

72. Economic and Social Conditions in the First and 

Second Centuries 210 

73. The Graeco-Roman World 215 

X. The Later Empire: Christianity in the Roman 
World, 180-395 a.d. 

74. The "Soldier Emperors," 180-284 A.D. ..... 219 

75. The "Absolute Emperors," 284-395 a.d 220 

76. Economic and Social Conditions in the Third and 

Fourth Centuries 224 

77. The Preparation for Christianity 226 

78. Rise and Spread of Christianity 229 

79. The Persecutions 232 

80. Triumph of Christianity •. . 234 

81. Christian Influence on Society 237 

XL The Germans to 476 a.d. 

82. Germany and the Germans 239 

83. Breaking of the Danube Barrier 241 

84. Breaking of the Rhine Barrier 245 

85. Inroads of the Huns 247 

86. End of the Roman Empire in the West, 476 a.d. . 248 
^ 87. Germanic Influence on Society 250 

XII. Classical CmLizATioN. 

88. The Classical City 252 

89. Education and the Condition of Children .... 253 

90. Marriage and the Position of Women 256 

91. The Home and Private Life 257 



viii Contents 

CHAPTER PAGE 

92. Amusements 264 

93. Slavery 268 

94. Greek Literature 270 

95. Greek Philosophy 273 

96. Roman Literature 276 

97. Greek Architecture 278 

98. Greek Sculpture 281 

99. Roman Architecture and Sculpture 282 

100. Artistic Athens 288 

101. Artistic Rome 292 

XIII. Western Europe during the Early Middle Ages, 

476-962 A.D. 

102. The Ostrogoths in Italy, 488-553 a.d 298 

103. The Lombards in Italy, 568-774 a.d 300 

104. The Franks under Clo\ds and His Successors . . . 303 

105. The Franks under Charles Martel and Pepin the 

Short 305 

106. The Reign of Charlemagne, 768-814 a.d 307 

107. Charlemagne and the Revival of the Roman Em- 

pire, 800 a.d 311 

108. Disruption of Charlemagne's Empire, 814-870 a.d. 312 

109. Germany under Saxon Kings, 919-973 a.d. ... 315 

110. Otto the Great and the Restoration of the Roman 

Empire, 962 a.d 317 

111. The Anglo-Saxons in Britain, 449-839 A.D. ... 319 

112. Christianity in the British Isles 322 

113. The Fusion of Germans and Romans 325 

XIV. Eastern Europe during the Early Middle Ages, 395- 

1095 A.D. 

114. The Roman Empire in the East 328 

115. The Reign of Justinian, 527-565 a.d 329 

116. The Empire and its x\siatic Foes 332 

117. The Empire and its Foes in Europe 334 

118. Byzantine Civilization 335 

119. Constantinople 337 

XV. The Christian Church in the East and in the West 

TO 1054 A.D. 

120. Development of the Christian Church 342 

121. Eastern Christianity 346 

122. Western Christianity: Rise of the Papacy . . . 348 

123. Growth of the Papacy 350 



Contents 



IX 



CHAPTER PACE 

124. Monasticism 352 

125. Life and Work of the Monks 355 

126. Spread of Christianity over Europe 358 

127. Separation of Eastern and Western Christianity . 360 

128. The Greek Church 363 

129. The Roman Church 364 

XVI. The Orient against the Occident: Rise and Spread 
OF Islam, 622-1058 a.d. 

130. Arabia and the Arabs 367 

131. Mohammed: Prophet and Statesman, 622-632 a.d. 370 

132. Islam and the Koran 372 

133. Expansion of Islam in Asia and Egypt 375 

134. Expansion of Islam in North Africa and Spain . . 378 

135. The Caliphate and its Disruption, 632-1058 a.d. . 379 

136. Arabian Civilization . '. 381 

137. The Influence of Islam 386 

XVII. The Northmen and the Normans to 1066 a.d. 

138. Scandinavia and the Northmen 389 

139. The Viking Age 391 

140. Scandinavian Heathenism 394 

141. The Northmen in the West 397 

142. The Northmen in the East 399 

143. Normandy and the Normans 402 

144. Conquest of England by the Danes; Alfred the 

Great 403 

145. Norman Conquest of England; WiUiam the Con- 

queror 407 

146. Results of the Norman Conquest 410 

147. Norman Conquest of Southern Italy and Sicily . 412 

148. The Normans in European History 413 

XVIII. Feudalism. 

149. Rise of Feudalism 415 

150. Feudalism as a System of Local Government . . 416 

151. Feudal Justice 419 

152. Feudal Warfare 421 

153. The Castle and Life of the Nobles 424 

154. Knighthood and Chivalry 428 

155. Feudalism as a System of Local Industry .... 431 

156. The Village and Life of the Peasants 434 

157. Serfdom 436 

158. Decline of Feudalism 437 



: Contents 

CHAPTER PAGE 

XIX. The Papacy and the Holy Roman Empire, 962-1273 

A.D. 

159. Characteristics of the Medieval Church 439 

160. Church Doctrine and Worship 440 

161. Church Jurisdiction 444 

162. The Secular Clergy 446 

163. The Regular Clergy 448 

164. The Friars 450 

165. Power of the Papacy 453 

166. Popes and Emperors, 962-1122 a.d 455 

167. Popes and Emperors, 1122-1273 a.d 460 

168. Significance of the Medieval Church 463 

XX. The Occident against the Orient; the Crusades, 
1095-1291 A.D. 

169. Causes of the Crusades 466 

170. First Crusade, 1095-1099 a.d 468 

171. Crusaders' States in Syria 472 

172. Second Crusade, 1147-1149 a.d., and Third Cru- 

sade, 1189-1192 a.d 474 

173. Fourth Crusade and the Latin Empire of Con- 

stantinople, 1202-1261 A.D 476 

174. Results of the Crusades 479 

XXI. The Mongols and the Ottoman Turks to 1453 a.d. 

175. The Mongols 483 

176. Conquests of the Mongols, 1206-1405 a.d. ... 484 

177. The Mongols in China and India 487 

178. The Mongols in Eastern Europe 488 

179. The Ottoman Turks and their Conquests, 1227- 

1453 A.D 491 

180. The Ottoman Turks in Southeastern Europe . . 493 

XXII. European Nations during the Later Middle Ages. 

181. Growth of the Nations 496 

182. England under WiUiam the Conqueror, 1066-1087 

A.D.; the Norman Kingship 497 

183. England under Henry II, 1154-1189 a.d.; Royal 

Justice and the Common Law 499 

184. The Great Charter, 1215 a.d 502 

185. Parliament during the Thirteenth Century. . . . 505 

186. Expansion of England under Edward I, 1272- 

1307 A.D 507 

187. Uni^cation of France, 987-1328 a.d 511 



Contents 



XI 



CHAPTER PAGE 

188. The Hundred Years' War between England and 

France, 1337-1453 a.d 515 

189. The Unification of Spain (to 1492 A.D.) 519 

190. Austria and the Swiss Confederation, 1273-1499 

A.D 522 

191. Expansion of Germany 525 

XXIII. European Cities during the Later Middle Ages. 

192. Growth of the Cities 529 

193. City Life 531 

194. Civic Industry: the Guilds 534 

195. Trade and Commerce 537 

196. Money and Banking 541 

197. ItaUan Cities 543 

198. German Cities; the Hanseatic League 547 

199. The Cities of Flanders 549 

XXIV. Medieval Civilization. 

200. Formation of National Languages 554 

201. Development of National Literatures 558 

202. Romanesque and Gothic Architecture; the Cathe- 

drals 562 

203. Education; the Universities 566 

204. Scholasticism 570 

205. Science and Magic 572 

206. Popular Superstitions 575 

207. Popular Amusements and Festivals 579 

208. Manners and Customs ' . . . . 584 

XXV. The Renaissance. 

209. Meaning of the Renaissance 589 

210. Revival of Learning in Italy 591 

211. Paper and Printing 594 

212. Revival of Art in Italy 597 

213. Revival of Learning and Art beyond Italy . . . 600 

214. The Renaissance in Literature 602 

215. The Renaissance in Education 606 

216. The Scientific Renaissance 607 

217. The Economic Renaissance 609 

XXVI. Geographical Discovery and Colonization. 

218. Medieval Geography 614 

219. Aids to Exploration 618 

220. To the Indies Eastward: Prince Henry and Da 

Gama 620 



Xll 



Contents 



CHAPTER PAGE 

221. The Portuguese Colonial Empire 622 

222. To the Indies Westward: Columbus and Magellan 624 

223. The Indians 630 

224. Spanish Explorations and Conquests in America . 633 

225. The Spanish Colonial Empire 635 

226. French and EngHsh Explorations in America . . 638 

227. The Old World and the New 639 

XXVII. The Reformation and the Religious Wars, 1517- 
1648 A.D. 

228. DecHne of the Papacy 643 

229. Heresies and Heretics 647 

230. Martin Luther and the Beginning of the Reforma- 

tion in Germany, 1517-1522 a.d . 651 

231. Charles V and the Spread of the German Reforma- 

tion, 1519-1556 A.D 654 

232. The Reformation in Switzerland: Zwingli and 

Calvin 656 

233. The English Reformation, 1533-1558 a.d. ... 658 

234. The Protestant Sects 662 

235. The Catholic Counter Reformation 665 

236. Spain under PhiHp II, 1556-1598 a.d 668 

237. Revolt of the Netherlands 671 

238. England under Elizabeth, 1558-1603 a.d 674 

239. The Huguenot Wars in France 679 

240. The Thirty Years' War, 1618-1648 a.d 682 

Appendix — Table of Events and Dates 688 

Index and Pronouncing Vocabulary 695 



LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 

* PAGE 

Disk of Phaestus 1 

A Papyrus Manuscript 2 

A Prehistoric Egyptian Grave 3 

A Hatchet of the Early Stone Age 4 

Arrowheads of the Later Stone Age 5 

Early Roman Bar Money 7 

Various Signs of Symbolic Picture Writing 8 

Mexican Rebus 9 

Chinese Picture Writing and Later Conventional Characters .... 9 

Cretan Writing 10 

Egyptian and Babylonian Writing 11 

The Moabite Stone (Louvre, Paris) 12 

Head of a Girl (Musee S. Germain, Paris) • 13 

Sketch of Mammoth on a Tusk found in a Cave in France 14 

Bison painted on the Wall of a Cave 14 

Cave Bear drawn on a Pebble 14 

Wild Horse on the Wall of a Cave in Spain 14 

A Dolmen 15 

Carved Menhir 16 

Race Portraiture of the Egyptians 17 

The Great Wall of China . 20 

Phil£e 23 

Top of Monument containing the Code of Hammurabi (British Mu- 
seum, London) 25 

Khufu (Cheops), Builder of the Great Pyramid 27 

Menephtah, the supposed Pharaoh of the Exodus 27 

Head of Mummy of Rameses II (Museimi of Gizeh) 28 

The Great Pyramid 29 

The Great Sphinx 30 

A Phoenician War Galley 32 

An Assyrian 34 

An Assyrian ReHef (British Museum, London) 35 

The Ishtar Gate, Babylon 36 

The Tomb of Cyrus the Great 37 

Darius with his Attendants 38 

xiii 



xiv List of Illustrations 

PAGE 

Rock Sepulchers of the Persian Kings 39 

A Royal Name in Hieroglyphics (Rosetta Stone) 42 

An Egyptian Court Scene 43 

Plowing and Sowing in Ancient Egypt 45 

Transport of an Assyrian Colossus 46 

Egyptian weighing " Cow Gold " 47 

Babylonian Contract Tablet 51 

An Egyptian Scarab 53 

Amenhotep IV 54 

Mummy and Cover of Coffin (U. S. National Museum, Washington) . 55 

The Judgment of the Dead 56 

The Deluge Tablet (British Museum, London) 57 

An Egyptian Temple (Restored) 57 

An Egyptian Wooden Statue (IMuseum of Gizeh) 58 

An Assyrian Palace (Restored) 59 

An Assyrian Winged Human-headed Bull . 60 

An Assyrian Hunting Scene (British Museimi, London) 61 

A Babylonian ISIap of the World 62 

An Egyptian Scribe (Louvre, Paris) 63 

Excavations at Nippur 64 

Excavations at Troy 68 

Lions' Gate, Mycenaa 70 

Silver Fragment from Mycenae (National Museum, Athens) 71 

A Cretan Girl (Museum of Candia, Crete) 72 

^gean Snake Goddess (Museum of Fine Arts, Boston) 73 

A Cretan Cupbearer (Museum of Candia, Crete) 74 

The Francois Vase (Archaeological Museum, Florence) 77 

Consulting the Oracle at Delphi 78 

The Discus Thrower (Lancelotti Palace, Rome) 80 

Athlete using the Strigil (Vatican Gallery, Rome) 81 

"Temple of Neptune," Paestum 89 

Crcesus on the Pyre 93 

Persian Archers (Louvre, Paris) 94 

Gravestone of Aristion (National Museum, Athens) 95 

Greek Soldiers in Arms 96 

The Mound at Marathon 96 

A Themistocles Ostrakon (British Museum, London) 97 

An Athenian Trireme (Reconstruction) 99 

"Theseum" 101 

Pericles (British Museum, London) 103 

An Athenian Inscription 105 

The " Mourning Athena " (Acropolis Museum, Athens) 109 

A Silver Coin of Syracuse 110 



List of Illustrations xv 

PAGE 

PhiHp II 115 

Demosthenes (Vatican Museum, Rome) 117 

Alexander (Glyptothek, Munich) 119 

The Alexander Mosaic (Naples Museum) 123 

A Greek Cameo (Museum, Vienna) 127 

The Dying Gaul (Capitoline Museum, Rome) 129 

A Graeco-Etruscan Chariot (Metropohtan Museum of Art, New York) 138 

An Etruscan Arch 139 

Characters of the Etruscan Alphabet 140 

An Early Roman Coin 142 

A Roman Farmer's Calendar 144 

Cinerary Urns in Terra Cotta (Vatican Museum, Rome) 145 

A Vestal Virgin 146 

SuovetauriUa (Louvre, Paris) 147 

An Etruscan Augur 148 

Coop with Sacred Chickens 149 

Curule Chair and Fasces 151 

The Appian Way 157 

A Roman Legionary 158 

A Roman Standard Bearer (Bonn Museum) 159 

Column of Duilius (Restored) 163 

A Carthaginian or Roman Helmet (British Museum, London) .... 166 

ATestudo 168 

Storming a City (Reconstruction) 170 

Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus (Spada Palace, Rome) 180 

Marcus Tullius Cicero (Vatican Museum, Rome) 181 

Gains JuHus Cassar (British Museum, London) 183 

A Roman Coin with the Head of Julius Caesar 186 

Augustus (Vatican Museum, Rome) 193 

Monumentum Ancyranum 196 

Pompeii 199 

Nerva (Vatican Museum, Rome) 200 

Column of Trajan 201 

The Pantheon 202 

The Tomb of Hadrian 203 

Marcus Aurehus in his Triumphal Car (Palace of the Conservatori, 

Rome) 204 

Wall of Hadrian in Britain 206 

Roman Baths, at Bath, England 209 

A Roman Freight Ship 211 

A Roman Villa 213 

A Roman Temple 215 

The Amphitheater at Aries 216 



xvi List of Illustrations 



PAGE 



A Megalith at Baalbec 217 

The Wall of Rome 220 

A Mithraic Monument 228 

Modern Jerusalem and the Mount of Olives 230 

Madonna and Child 231 

Christ, the Good Shepherd (Imperial Museum, Constantinople) ... 232 

Interior of the Catacombs 234 

TheLabarum 235 

Arch of Constantine 236 

Runic Alphabet 240 

A Page of the Gothic Gospels (Reduced) . 242 

An Athenian School (Royal Museum, BerUn) 254 

A Roman School Scene 255 

Youth reading a Papyrus Roll 256 

House of the Vettii at Pompeii (Restored) 258 

Atrium of a Pompeian House 259 

Pompeian Floor Mosaic 260 

Peristyle of a Pompeian House 261 

A Greek Banquet 262 

A Roman Litter 263 

Theater of Dionysus, Athens 264 

A Dancing Girl 265 

The Circus Maximus (Restoration) 266 

Gladiators 267 

A Slave's Collar 270 

Sophocles (Lateran Museum, Rome) 271 

Socrates (Vatican Museum, Rome) 274 

Corner of a Doric Fagade 279 

Corner of an Ionic Facade 279 

Corinthian Capital 280 

Composite Capital 280 

Tuscan Capital 280 

Interior View of the Ulpian BasiHca (Restoration) 284 

A Roman Aqueduct 285 

The Colosseum (Exterior) 286 

The Colosseum (Interior) 286 

A Roman Cameo 287 

Tomb of Theodoric at Ravenna 299 

Charlemagne (Lateran Museum, Rome) 307 

The Iron Crown of Lombardy ^08 

Cathedral at Aix-la-Chapelle 310 

Ring Seal of Otto the Great 316 

Anglo-Saxon Drinking Horn 320 



List of Illustrations xvii 

PAGE 

St. Martin's Church, Canterbury 323 

Canterbury Cathedral 324 

A Mosaic of Justinian 330 

The Three Existing Monuments of the Hippodrome, Constantinople . 339 

Religious Music 345 

The Nestorian Monument . . ' 347 

Papal Arms 348 

St. Daniel the Stylite on his Column 353 

Abbey of Saint Germain des Pres, Paris 356 

A Monk Copyist 357 

Mecca 368 

A Letter of Mohammed 370 

A Passage from the Koran 373 

Naval Battle showing Use of "Greek Fire" 377 

Interior of the Mosque of Cordova 384 

Capitals and Arabesques from the Alhambra 386 

Swedish Rock Carving 389 

A Runic Stone 390 

A Viking Ship 392 

Norse Metal Work (Museum, Copenhagen) 396 

Alfred the Great 404 

Alfred's Jewel (Ashmolean Museum, Oxford) 406 

A Scene from the Bayeux Tapestry (Museum of Bayeux, Normandy) 408 

Trial by Combat 421 

Mounted Knight 422 

Pierrefonds 425 

Chateau Gaillard (Restored) 426 

King and Jester 427 

Falconry 429 

Farm Work in the Fourteenth Century 432 

Pilgrims to Canterbury 442 

A Bishop ordaining a Priest 447 

St. Francis blessing the Birds 451 

The Spiritual and the Temporal Power 456 

Henry IV, Countess Ma ilda, and Gregory VII 459 

Contest between Crusaders and Moslems 467 

" Mosque of Omar," Jerusalem 471 

Effigy of a Knight Templar 473 

Richard I in Prison 476 

Hut- Wagon of the Mongols (Reconstruction) 484 

Tomb of Timur at Samarkand 487 

Mohammed II 492 

The ''White Tower" 498 



xviii List of Illustrations 

PAGE 

A Passage from Domesday Book 499 

Windsor Castle 501 

Extract from the Great Charter 504 

Coronation Chair, Westminster Abbey 508 

A Queen Eleanor Cross 510 

Royal Arms of Edward III 515 

English Archer 516 

Walls of Carcassonne 530 

A Scene in Rothenburg 532 

House of the Butchers' Guild, Hildesheim, Germany 535 

Baptistery, Cathedral, and "Leaning Tower" of Pisa 544 

Venice and the Grand Canal 546 

Belfry of Bruges 550 

Town HaU of Louvain, Belgium 551 

Geoffrey Chaucer 557 

Roland at Roncesvalles 559 

Cross Section of Amiens Cathedral 564 

Gargoyles on the Cathedral of Notre Dame, Paris 565 

View of New CoUege, Oxford 569 

Tower of Magdalen College, Oxford 570 

Roger Bacon 573 

Magician rescued from the Devil 575 

The Witches' Sabbath 578 

Chess Pieces of Charlemagne 579 

Bear Baiting 581 

Mummers 582 

A Miracle Play at Coventry, England 583 

Manor House in Shropshire, England 584 

Interior of an English Manor House 585 

Costimies of Ladies during the Later Middle Ages 586 

Dante Ahghieri 591 

Petrarch 592 

An Early Printing Press 595 

Facsimile of Part of Caxton's " iEneid " (Reduced) 596 

Desiderius Erasmus (Louvre, Paris) 601 

Cervantes 603 

William Shakespeare 604 

Shakespeare's Birthplace, Stratford-on-Avon 605 

Richard II 612 

Geographical Monsters 615 

An Astrolabe 619 

Vasco da Gama 621 

Christopher Columbus (Biblioteca Nacional, Madrid) 626 



List of Illustrations xix 

PAGE 

Isabella 627 

Ship of 1492 A.D 627 

The Name " America " . . . 628 

Ferdinand Magellan 629 

Aztec Sacrificial Knife 631 

Aztec Sacrificial Stone 632 

Cabot Memorial Tower 638 

JohnWycUffe 649 

Martin Luther 651 

Charles V 655 

John Calvin 657 

Henry VIII 658 

Ruins of Melrose Abbey 660 

Chained Bible 663 

St. Ignatius Loyola 665 

PhiHp II 669 

The Escorial 670 

William the Silent 672 

Ehzabeth 675 

Crown of Elizabeth's Reign 676 

London Bridge in the Time of Elizabeth 677 

The Spanish Armada in the English Channel 678 

Cardinal Richeheu (National Gallery, London) 682 

Gustavus Adolphus 684 



LIST OF MAPS 



PAGE 



Distribution of Semitic and Indo-European Peoples 18 

Physical Map of Asia Facing 20 v 

Egyptian Empire (about 1450 B.C.) 26 

Canaan as divided among the Tribes 31 

Solomon's Kingdom 33 

Assyrian Empire (about 660 B.C.) Facing 34^ 

Lydia, Media, Babylonia, and Egypt (about 550 B.C.) . . . Facing 34 ^ 

Persian Empire at its Greatest Extent (about 500 B.C.) . . Facing 38 ^ 

Ancient Trade Routes 48 

Phoenician and Greek Colonies Facing 50 / 

Physical Map of Europe Facing 66 ^^ 

Ancient Greece and the ^Egean (double page) .... Between 68 and 69 ^ 

^gean Civilization 69 

Greek Conquests and Migrations 75 

The World according to Homer, 900 b.c 76 / 

Greece at the Opening of the Persian Wars, 490 B.C. ... Facing 94 ^ 

Vicinity of Athens 107 

Greece at the Opening of the Peloponnesian War Facing 108 ^ 

Route of the Ten Thousand 121 / 

Empire of Alexander the Great (about 323 B.C.) Facing 124 "^ 

Kingdoms of Alexander's Successors (about 200 B.C.) .... Facing 128 ^ 

The World according to Eratosthenes, 200 b.c 132 

The World according to Ptolemy, 150 a.d 132 

Ancient Italy and Sicily Facing 136 

Vicinity of Rome 141 , 

Expansion of Roman Dominions in Italy, 509-264 B.C. . . Facing 154 v 

Colonies and Military Roads in Italy 156 

Expansion of Roman Dominions, 264-133 b.c Facing 168 v 

Expansion of Roman Dominions, 133-31 b.c Facing 184' 

Expansion of Roman Dominions, 31 B.C.-180 A.D Facing 194^ 

Plan of Jerusalem and its Environs 198 

Roman Britain 205 

Roman Empire (about 395 a.d.) (double page) . . . Between 222 and 223 

Growth of Christianity to the End of the Fourth Century . Facing 236 / 

Germanic Migrations to 476 a.d Facing 244 / 

XX 



List of Maps xxi 

PAGE 

Europe at the Deposition of Romulus Augustulus, 476 a.d. . Facing 248 "^ 

Plan of the Ulpian BasiUca 284 

Plan of Ancient Athens 289 

Plan of the Parthenon 291 

Plan of Ancient Rome 293 

Europe at the Death of Theodoric, 526 a.d 301 

Europe at the Death of Justinian, 565 a.d 301 

Growth of the Frankish Dominions, 481-768 a.d 304 

Europe in the Age of Charlemagne, 800 a.d Facing 308 ^ 

The Frankish Dominions as divided by the Treaties of Verdun 

(843 A.D.) and Mersen (870 a.d.) 313 

Europe in the Age of Otto the Great, 962 a.d 318 

Anglo-Saxon Britain 321 

Peoples of Europe at the Beginning of the Tenth Century . Facing 326 
The Roman Empire in the East during the Tenth and Eleventh 

Centuries 332 

Vicinity of Constantinople 338 

Plan of Constantinople 340 

Plan of Kirk stall Abbey, Yorkshire 354 

Growth of Christianity from the Fifth to the Fifteenth Century y 

(double page) ; Between 358 and 359 , 

Expansion of Islam Facing 376 

Discoveries of the Northmen in the West 398 

England under Alfred the Great 405 

Dominions of WilUam the Conqueror 409 

Plan of Chateau GaiUard 424 

Plan of Hitchin Manor, Hertfordshire 435 

Germany and Italy during the Interregnum, 1254-1273 a.d. .Facing 462 
Mediterranean Lands after the Fourth Crusade, 1202-1204 a.d. 

(double page) Between 478 and 479^ 

The Mongol Empire 486 

Russia at the End of the Middle Ages 489 

Empire of the Ottoman Turks at the Fall of Constantinople, 1453 a.d. 494 

Dominions of the Plantagenets in England and France 503 

Scotland in the Thirteenth Century 509 

Unification of France during the Middle Ages 513 

Unification of Spain during the Middle Ages 521 

Growth of the Hapsburg Possessions 523 

The Swiss Confederation, 1291-1513 a.d 524 

German Expansion Eastward during the Middle Ages 527 

Trade Routes between Northern and Southern Europe in the Thir- 
teenth and Fourteenth Centuries 538 

Medieval Trade Routes (double page) Between 540 afid 541 ^ 



xxii List of Maps 

PAGE 

Plan of Salisbury Cathedral, England 562 

The World according to Cosmas Indicopleustes, 535 a.d 616 

The Hereford Map, 1280 a.d 616 

Behaim's Globe 625 

Portuguese and Spanish Colonial Empires in the Sixteenth Century / 

(double page) Between 628 and 629 

The West Indies 633 

An Early Map of the New Woi-ld (1540 a.d.) 634/ 

Western Europe in the Time of Elizabeth Facing 634 

The Great Schism, 1378-1417 a.d 646 / 

Europe at the Beginning of the Reformation, 1519 a.d. . . Facing 654 "^ 

Extent of the Reformation, 1524-1572 a.d 662 

The Netherlands in the Sixteenth Century 673 

Europe at the End of the Thirty Years' War, 1648 a.d. . . Facing 684 ' 



LIST OF PLATES 

Ancient and Medieval Gems Frontispiece 

Stonehenge Facing page 12^ 

The Rosetta Stone (British Museum, London) 42 ^^ 

The Vaphio Gold Cups (National Museum, Athens) 70 ^ 

Greek Gods and Goddesses: Zeus, Hera, Apollo, Aphrodite .... 76- 

Aphrodite of Melos (Louvre, Paris) 77 

Hermes and Dionysus (Museum of Olympia) 80> 

Sarcophagus from Sidon (Imperial Ottoman IMuseum, Constantinople) 126 ^ 

Laocoon and his Children (Vatican Museum, Rome) 130^^ 

Victory of Samothrace (Louvre, Paris) 131^ 

Oriental, Greek, and Roman Coins 134: K 

A Scene in Sicily 152 ^ 

Bay of Naples and Vesuvius 153^ 

Relief on the Arch of Titus 198 ^^ 

The Parthenon 280 Z' 

Views of Pediment and Frieze of Parthenon 281 '^ 

AcropoUs of Athens (Restoration) 290 '^ 

AcropoHs of Athens from the Southwest 291 1^ 

Roman Forum and Surrounding Buildings (Restored) 294 ^ 

Roman Forum at the Present Time 295 

Sancta Sophia, Constantinople 338 

Fountain of Lions in the Alhambra 386 *- ^ 

The Taj Mahal, Agra 488 "^'^ 

Campanile and Doge's Palace, Venice 546 ^ 

Illuminated Manuscript 558 

Reims Cathedral ^ 562 ^'^ 

Cologne Cathedral 563 ^, 

Interior of King's College Chapel, Cambridge 570 ^ 

Ghiberti's Bronze Doors at Florence 590 *^ 

St. Peter's, Rome 591 v^ 

Itahan Paintings of the Renaissance 600 ^ 

Flemish, Spanish, and Dutch Paintings of the Renaissance 601 1/" 



SUGGESTIONS FOR FURTHER STUDY 

All serious students of history should have access to the American His- 
torical Review (N. Y., 1895 to date, quarterly, $4.00 a year). This journal, 

the organ of the American Historical Association, contains 
eno ica s articles by scholars, critical reviews of all important works, 
and notes and news. The History Teacher's Magazine is edited under the 
supervision of a committee of the American Historical Association (Phila- 
delphia, 1909 to date, monthly, $2.00 a year). Every well-equipped school 
library should contain the files of the National Geographic Magazine (Wash- 
ington, 1890 to date, monthly, $2.00 a year) and of Art and Archceology 
(Washington, 1914 to date, monthly, $3.00 a year). These two periodicals 
make a special feature of illustrations. 

Useful books for the teacher's library include H. E. Bourne, The Teaching 
of History and Civics in the Elementary and the Secondary School (N. Y., 1902, 

Longmans, Green, and Co., $1.50), Henry Johnson, The 

Works on Teaching of History (N. Y., 1915, Macmillan, $1.40), H. B. 

A T \' George, Historical Evidence (N. Y., 1909, Oxford University 

of History Press, American Branch, 75 cents), Frederic Harrison, The 

Meaning of History and Other Historical Pieces (New ed., 
N. Y., 1900, Macmillan, $1.75), J. H. Robinson, The New History (N. Y., 
1912, Macmillan, $1.50), and H. B. George, The Relations of History and 
Geography (4th ed., N. Y., 1910, Oxford University Press, American 
Branch, $1.10). The following reports are indispensable: 

The Study of History in Schools. Report to the American Historical Association 
by the Committee of Seven (N. Y., 1899, Macmillan, 50 cents). 

The Study of History in Secondary Schools. Report to the American Historical 
Association by a Committee of Five (N. ¥., 191 1, Macmillan, 25 cents). 

Historical Sources in Schools. Report to the New England History Teachers* 
Association by a Select Committee (N. Y., 1902, Macmillan, out of print). 

A History Syllabus for Secondary Schools. Report by a Special Committee of the 
New England History Teachers' Association (N. Y., 1904, Heath, $1.32). 

A Bibliography of History for Schools and Libraries. Published under the auspices 
of the Association of History Teachers of the Middle States and Maryland 
(2d ed., N. Y., 1915, Longmans, Green, and Co., 60 cents). 

The most useful dictionaries of classical antiquities are H. B. Walters, 
A Classical Dictionary (N. Y., 1916, Putnam, $6.50) and H. T. Peck, 

Harper's Dictionary of Classical Literature and Antiquities 
^^d^E^^^"? (N. Y., 1897, American Book Co., $6.00). Cambridge Uni- 
nedias versity, England, has published A Companion to Greek 

Studies, edited by L. Whibley (2d ed., N. Y., 1906, Putnam, 



Suggestions for Further Study xxv 

$6.00), and A Companion to Latin Studies, edited by J, E. Sandys (N. Y., 
191 1, Putnam, $6.00). These two volumes treat every phase of ancient life 
in separate essays by distinguished scholars. For chronology, genealogies, 
lists of sovereigns, and other data the most valuable works are Arthur 
Hassall, European History, 4'/6-igio (new ed., N. Y., 1910, Macmillan, 
$2.25), G, P. Putnam, Tabular Views of Universal History (new ed., N. Y., 
1915, Putnam, $2.50), and Karl J. Ploetz, A Handbook of Universal History, 
translated by W. H. Tilhnghast (Boston, 1915, Houghton MifBin Co., $3.00), 
The Illustrated Topics for Ancient History, arranged by D. C. Knowlton 
(Philadelphia, McKinley Publishing Co., 65 cents), contain much valuable 
^ .. ,. material in the shape of a syllabus, source quotations, 

outline maps, pictures, and other aids. The following syl- 
labi have been prepared for collegiate instruction: 

BoTSFORD, G. W. A Syllabus of Roman History (N. Y., 191 5, Macmillan, 50 cents). 
MuNRO, D. C, and Sellery, G. C. A Syllabus of Medieval History, 395-1500 

(N. Y., 1913, Longmans, Green, and Co., $1.00). 
R1CELA.RDSON, O. H. Syllabus of Continental European History from the Fall of 

Rome to 1870 (Boston, 1904, Ginn, boards, 75 cents). 
Stephenson, Andrew. Syllabus of Lectures on European History (Terre Haute, 

Ind., 1897, Inland Publishing Co., $1.50). 
Thompson, J. W. Reference Studies in Medieval History (2d ed., Chicago, 1914, 

University of Chicago Press, $1.25). A rich collection of classified references. 

An admirable collection of maps for school use is W. R. Shepherd, His- 
torical Atlas (N. Y., 191 1, Holt, $2.50), with about two hundred and fifty 
. . maps covering the historical field. The latest and one of 

the best of the classical atlases is Mtirray's Small Classical 
Atlas, edited by G. B. Grundy (N. Y., 1904, Oxford University Press, Ameri- 
can Branch, $1.35). A special feature of this work is the adoption of the 
system of colored contours to indicate configuration. The Atlas of Ancient 
and Classical Geography in "Everyman's Library" (N. Y., 1910, Button, 
35 cents) might well be purchased by every student. Other valuable 
works are E. W. Dow, Atlas of European History (N. Y., 1907, Holt, $1.50) 
and Ramsay Muir, A New School Atlas of Modern History (N. Y., 191 1, 
Holt, $1.25). Much use can be made of the inexpensive and handy Literary 
and Historical Atlas of Europe by J. G. Bartholomew in "Everyman's 
Library" (N. Y., 1910, Button, 35 cents). 

Kiepert's New Wall Maps of Ancient History (Chicago, Rand, McNally, 
and Co.) and Johnston's Classical Series (Chicago, A. J. Nystrom and Co.) 

^, „ may be obtained singly, mounted on common rollers, or 

Wall Maps . . . ... 

and Charts ^^ ^^^^ ^^ ^ ^^^^ with spring rollers. The text is in Latin. 
The Spruner-Bretschneider Historical Maps are ten in 
number, size 62 x 52 inches, and cover the period from a.d. 350 to 1815. 
The text is in German (Chicago, Nystrom, each $6.00; Rand, McNally, and 
Co., each $6.50). Johnston's Maps of English and European History are 
sixteen in number, size 40 x 30 inches, and include four maps of ancient 



xxvi Suggestions for Further Study 

history (Chicago, Nystrom, each $2.50). A new series of European History 
Maps, thirty-nine in number, size 40 x 32 inches, has been prepared for 
the study of ancient history by Professors J. H. Breasted and C. F. Huth, 
and for medieval and modern history by Professor S. B. Harding (Chicago, 
Denoyer-Geppert Co., complete set with tripod stand, $52.00; in two spring 
roller cases, $73.00). These maps may also be had separately. The maps 
in this admirable series omit all irrelevant detail, present place names in the 
modern English form, and in choice of subject matter emphasize the Ameri- 
can viewpoint. The school should also possess good physical wall maps 
such as the Sydow-Habenicht or the Kiepert series, both to be obtained 
from Rand, McNally, and Co. The text is in German. Phillips's Model 
Test Maps and Johnston's New Series of Physical Wall Maps are obtainable 
from A. J. Nystrom and Co. The only large charts available are those pre- 
pared by MacCoun for his Historical Geography Charts of Europe. The two 
sections, "Ancient and Classical" and "Medieval and ISIodern," are sold 
separately (N. Y., Silver, Burdett, and Co., $15.00). A helpful series of 
Blackboard Outline Maps is issued by J. L. Engle, Beaver, Penn. These are 
wall maps, printed with paint on blackboard cloth, for use with an ordinary 
crayon. Such maps are also sold by the Denoyer-Geppert Co., Chicago. 

The "Studies" following each chapter of this book include various exer- 
cises for which small outline maps are required. Such maps are sold by 
Outline D. C. Heath and Co., Boston, New York, Chicago. Useful 

Maps atlases of outline maps are also to be had of the McKinley 

Pubhshing Co., Philadelphia, Atkinson, Mentzer and Grover, Chicago, 
W. B. Harison, New York City, and of other publishers. 

The best photographs of ancient works of art must usually be obtained 

from the foreign publishers in Naples, Florence, Rome, Munich, Paris, 

„, ^ ^. Athens, and London, or from their American agents. Such 

Illustrations , ,.,,.„ . , ,, 

photographs, m the usual size, 8 x 10 mches, sell, unmounted, 

at from 6 to 8 francs a dozen. All dealers in lantern slides issue descriptive 
catalogues of a great variety of archaeological subjects. In addition to 
photographs and lantern slides, a collection of stereoscopic views is very 
helpful in giving vividness and interest to instruction in ancient history. 
An admirable series of photographs for the stereoscope, including Egypt, 
Palestine, Greece, and Italy, is issued by Underwood and Underwood, New 
York City. The same firm supplies convenient maps and handbooks for 
use in this connection. The Keystone stereographs, prepared by the Key- 
stone View Company, Meadville, Penn., may also be cordially recommended. 
The architecture, costumes, amusements, and occupations of the Middle 
Ages in England are shown in Longmans^ Historical Illustrations (six port- 
folios, each containing twelve plates in black-and-white, Longmans, Green, 
and Co., 90 cents, each portfolio). The same firm issues Longmans^ His- 
torical Wall Pictures, consisting of twelve colored pictures from original 
paintings illustrating English history (each picture, separately, 80 cents; 
in a portfoUo, $10.50). Other notable collections are Lehmann's Geograph- 



Suggestions for Further Study xxvii 

ical Pictures, Historical Pictures, and Types of Nations, and Cybulski's 
Historical Pictures (Chicago, Denoyer-Geppert Co.; each picture separately 
mounted on rollers, $1.35 to $2.25). The New England History Teachers' 
Association publishes a series of Authentic Pictures for Class Room Use, size 
5x8 inches, price 3 cents each. The Catalogue of the Collection of Historical 
Material at Simmons College, prepared by the New England History 
Teachers' Association (2d ed., Boston, 191 2, Houghton Mifiain Co., 25 
cents), contains an extensive list of pictures, slides, models, and other aids 
to history teaching. Among the more useful collections in book form of 
photographic reproductions and drawings are the following : 
Fechheimer, Hedwig. Die Plastik der Agypter (2d. ed., Berlin, 1914, B. Cassirer, 

12 marks). 156 plates of Egyptian sculpture. 
FouGERES, GusTAVE. La vie publique et privee des Grecs et des Romains (2d ed., 

Paris, 1900, Hachette, 15 francs). An album of 85 pictures. 
FuRTWANGLER, Adolf. Masterpieces of Greek Sculpture (N. Y., Scribner, $15.00). 
Hekler, Anton. Greek and Roman Portraits (N. Y., 191 3, Putnam, $7.50). 311 

plates, with comment and bibliography. 
Hill, G. F. Illustrations of School Classics (N. Y., 1903, Macmillan, $2.50). 
MuziK, H., and PERSCmNKA, F. Kunst und Leben im Altertum (Vienna, 1909, 

F. Tempsky; Leipzig, G. Freytag, 4.40 marks). 
Osborne, Duffield. Engraved Gems (N. Y., 1913, Holt, $6.00). 
Parmentier, a. Album historique (Paris, 1894-1905, Colin, 4 vols., each 15 francs). 

Illustrations covering the medieval and modern periods, with descriptive text 

in French. 
Rheinhard, Hermann. Album des klassischen Alleriums (Stuttgart, 1882, Hoff- 
man, 18 marks). 72 pictures in colors. 
Rouse, W. H. D. Atlas of Classical Portraits. Greek Section, Roman Section 

(London, 1898, Dent, 2 vols., each i^. 6d.). Small, half-tone engravings, 

accompanied by brief biographies. 
Schreiber, Theodor. Atlas of Classical Antiquities (N. Y., 1895, Macmillan, 

$6.50). 
To vitalize the study of geography and history there is nothing 
Works of better than the reading of modern books of travel. Among 

Travel these may be mentioned: 

Allinson, F. G. and Allinson, Anne C. E. Greek Lands and Letters (Boston, 

1909, Houghton Mifflin Co., $2.50). An entertaining work of mingled history 

and geography. 
Barrows, S. J. The Isles and Shrines of Greece (Boston, 1898, Little, Brown, and 

Co., $2.00). 
Clark, F. E. The Holy Land of Asia Minor (N. Y., 1914, Scribner, $1.00). Pop- 
ular sketches. 
Dunning, H. W. To-day on the Nile (N. Y., 1905, Pott, $2.50). 

To-day in Palestine (N. Y., 1907, Pott, $2.50). 

DwiGHT, H. G. Constantinople, Old and New (N. Y., 1915, Scribner, $5.00). 
Edwards, Amelia B. A Thousand Miles up the Nile (2d ed., N. Y., 1888, Dutton, 

$2.50). 
Forman, H. J. The Ideal Italian' Tour (Boston, 191 1, Houghton MiflSin Co., 

$1.50). A brief and attractive volume covering all Italy. 



xxviii Suggestions for Further Study 

Hay, John. Castilian Days (Boston, 1871, Houghton Mifflin Co., $1.25). 

HuTTON, Edward. Rome (N. Y., 1909, Macmillan, $2.00). 

Jackson, A. V. W. Persia, Past and Present (N. Y., 1906, Macmillan, $4.00). 

Lucas, E. V. A Wanderer in Florence (N. Y., 191 2, Macmillan, $1.75). 

Manatt, J. I. ^gean Days (Boston, 1913, Houghton Mifflin Co., $3.00). De- 
scribes the most important islands of the ^gean. 

Marden, p. S. Greece and the jEgean Islands (Boston, 1907, Houghton Mifflin 
Co., $3.00). 

Paton, W. a. Picturesque Sicily (2d ed., N. Y., 1902, Harper, $2.50). 

Richardson, R. B. Vacation Days in Greece (N. Y., 1903, Scribner, $2.00). 

Warner, C. D. In the Levant (N. Y., 1876, Harper, $2.00). 

The following works of historical fiction comprise only a selection from 
a very large number of books suitable for supplementary reading. For 
extended bibliographies see E. A. Baker, A Guide to His- 
Hction*^^ tonca/ Fiction (new ed., N. Y., 1914, MacmiUan, $6.00) and 

Jonathan Nield, A Guide to the Best Historical Novels and 
Tales (3d ed., N. Y., 1904, Putnam, $1.75). An excellent list of historical 
stories, especially designed for children, will be found in the Bibliography of 
History for Schools arid Libraries, parts viii-ix. 
Bulwer-Lytton, Edward. The Last Days of Pompeii (Boston, 1834, Little, 

Brown, and Co., $1.25). 
Champney, Elizabeth W. The Romance of Imperial Rome (N. Y., 1910, Putnam, 

$3.50). 
Church, A. J. Roman Life in the Days of Cicero (N. Y., 1883, Macmillan, 50 cents). 
Stories of Charlemagne and the Twelve Peers of France (N. Y., 1902, Mac- 
millan, $1.75). 
Cox, G. W. Tales of Ancient Greece (Chicago, 1868, McClurg, $1.00). 
Dahn, Felix, Felicitas (Chicago, 1883, McClurg, 75 cents). Rome, 476 a.d. 
Doyle, A. C. The White Company (Boston, 1890, Caldwell, 75 cents). The Eng- 
lish in France and Castile, 1366-1367 a.d. 
Ebers, Georg, Uarda (N. Y., 1877, Appleton, 2 vols., $1.50). Egypt, fourteenth 

century B.C. 
Eliot, George. Rom.ola (N. Y., 1863, Dutton, 35 cents). Florence and Savonarola 

in the latter part of the fifteenth century. 
Fenelon, Francois. Adventures of Telemachus, translated by Dr. Hawkesworth 

(Boston, Houghton Mifflin Co., $2.25). 
Hale, E. E. In His Name (Boston, 1873, Little, Brown, and Co., $1.00). The 

Waldenses about 11 79 a.d. 
Hardy, A. S. Passe Rose (Boston, 1889, Houghton Mifflin Co., $1.25). Franks 

and Saxons of Charlemagne's time. 
Hawthorne, Nathaniel. The Scarlet Letter (N. Y., 1850, Dutton, 35 cents), 

Massachusetts in the seventeenth century. 
Henty, G. a. The Young Carthaginian (N. Y., 1886, Scribner, $1.50). Second 

Punic War 
Hugo, Victor. Notre Dame (N. Y.. 1831, Dutton, 35 cents). Paris, late fifteenth 

century. 
Irving, Washington. The Alhambra (N. Y., 1832, Putnam, $1.00). Sketches 

of the Moors and Spaniards. 



Suggestions for Further Study xxix 

Jacobs, Joseph (editor). The Most Delectable History of Reynard the Fox (N. Y., 

189s, Macmillan, $1.50). 
KiNGSLEY, Charles. Hypatia (N. Y., 1853, Macmillan, $1.25). Alexandria, 

391 A.D. 
Westward Ho! (N. Y., 1855, Button, 35 cents). Voyages of Elizabethan 



seamen and the struggle with Spain. 
Kipling, Rudyard. Puck of Pock's Hill (N. Y., 1906, Doubleday, Page, and Co., 

$1.50). Roman occupation of Britain. 
Lang, Andrew. The Monk of Fife (N. Y., 1895, Longmans, Green, and Co., $1.25). 

The Maid of Orleans and the Hundred Years' War. 
Lane, E. W. (translator). The Arabian Nights' Entertainments (2d ed., N. Y., 

1859, Macmillan, 35 cents). 
London, Jack. Before Adam (N. Y., 1907, Macmillan, $1.50). Prehistoric Ufe. 
Manzoni, Alessandro. The Betrothed (N. Y., 1825, Macmillan, 2 vols., 70 cents). 

Milan under Spanish rule, 1628-1630 a.d. 
Mason, Eugene (translator). Aucassin and Nicolette and other Medieval Romances, 

and Legends (N. Y., 1910, Button, 35 cents). 
Newman, J. H. Callista (N. Y., 1856, Longmans, Green, and Co., $1.25). Per- 
secution of Christians in North Africa, 250 a.d. 
Reade, Charles. The Cloister and the Hearth (N. Y., 1861, Button, 35 cents). 

Eve of the Reformation. 
ScHEFFEL, J. VON. Ekkehard, translated by Helena Easson (N. Y., 1857, Button, 

35 cents). Germany in the tenth century. 
Scott, (Sir) Walter. The Talisman (N. Y., 1825, Button, 35 cents). Reign of 

Richard I, 1193 a.d. 

Ivanhoe (N. Y., Heath, 50 cents). Richard I, 11 94 a.d. 

Sienkiewicz, Henryk. Quo Vadis? (Boston, 1896, Little, Brown, and Co., $2.00). 

Reign of Nero. 
Stevenson, R. L. The Black Arrow (N. Y., 1888, Scribner, $1.00). War of the 

Roses. 
"Twain, Mark." A Connecticut Yankee at the Court of King Arthur (N. Y., 1889, 

Harper, $1.75). 
Wallace, Lew. Ben-Hur; a Tale of the Christ (N. Y., 1880, Harper, $1.50). 
Waterloo, Stanley. The Story of Ab (2d ed., N. Y., 1905, Boubleday, Page, 

and Co., $1.50). Prehistoric life. 
It is unnecessary to emphasize the value, as collateral reading, of his- 
torical poems and plays. To the brief list which follows should be added 
the material in Katharine Lee Bates and Katharine Coman, 
Poetry *^^^ Ewg/wA History told by English Poets (N. Y., 1902, Mac- 

millan, 60 cents). 
Browning, Robert. Echetlos and Pheidippides. 
Burns, Robert. The Battle of Bannockburn. 
Byron (Lord) . Song of Saul before His Last Battle, The Destruction of Sennacherib, 

Belshazzar's Feast, Prometheus, "Greece" (The Corsair, canto iii, lines 1-54), 

"Modern Greece" (Childe Harold, canto ii, stanzas 85-91), "The Beath of 

Greece" {The Giaour, Hnes 68-141), "The Isles of Greece" {Don Juan, canto 

iii), and "The Colosseum" {Childe Harold, canto iv, stanzas 140-145). 
Clough, a. H. Columbus. 
Coleridge, S. T. Kubla Khan. 



XXX 



Suggestions for Further Study 



Domett, Alfred. A Christmas Hymn. 

Drayton, Michael. The Battle of Agincourt. 

Dryden, John. Alexander's Feast. 

JONSON, Ben. Hymn to Diana. 

Keats, John. Ode on a Grecian Urn. 

KiNGSLEY, Charles. Andromeda and The Red King. 

Landor, W. S. Orpheus and Eurydice. 

Longfellow, H. W. "The Saga of King Olaf" {Tales of a Wayside Inn) and 

The Skeleton in Armor. 
Lowell, J. R. Rhoecus and The Shepherd of King Admetus. 
Macaulay, T. B. Lays of Ancient Rome ("Horatius," "Virginia," "The Battle of 

Lake Regillus," and "The Prophecy of Capys"), The Armada, and The Battle 

of Ivry. 
Miller, Joaquin. Columbus. 

Milton, John. Ode on the Morning of Christ's Nativity. 
Praed, W. M. Arminius. 
RossETTi, D. G. The White Ship. 
Schiller, Friedrich. The Maid of Orleans, William Tell, Maria Stuart, and 

Wallenstein. 
Scott, (Sir) Walter. "Flodden Field" (Marmion, canto vi, stanzas 19-27, 33-35)- 
Shakespeare, William. Coriolanus, Julius Ccesar, Antony and Cleopatra, King 

John, Richard the Second, Henry the Fourth, parts i and ii, Henry the Fifth, Henry 

the Sixth, parts i, ii, and iii, Richard the Third, Henry the Eighth, and The Mer- 
chant of Venice. 
Shelley, P. B. To the Nile, Ozymandias, Hymn of Apollo, Arethusa, and Song of 

Proserpine. 
Tennyson, Alfred. Ulysses, CEnone, The Death of CEnone, Demeter arid Persephone, 

The Lotus-Eaters, Boadicea, St. Telemachus, St. Simeon Stylites, Sir Galahad, 

and The Revenge: a Ballad of the Fleet. 
Thackeray, W. M. King Canute. 
Wordsworth, William. Laodamia. 

Full information regarding the best translations of the sources of ancient, 

medieval, and modern history is to be found in one of the Reports previously 

cited — Historical Sources in Schools, parts ii-iv. The use 

of the following collections of extracts from the sources 

will go far toward remedying the lack of library facihties. 

Botsford, G. W., and Botsford, Lillie S. Source Book of Ancient History (N. Y., 

191 2, Macmillan, $1.30). 
Davis, W. S. Readings in Ancient History (Boston, 191 2, AUyn and Bacon, 2 vols., 

$2.00). 
DuNCALF, Frederic, and Krey, A. C. Parallel Source Problems in Medieval 

History (N. Y., 191 2, Harper, $1.10). 
Fling, F. M. A Source Book of Greek History (N. Y., 1907, Heath, $1.12). 
MuNRO, D. C. A Source Book of Roman History (N. Y., 1904, Heath, $1.12). 
Ogg, F. a. a Source Book of Medieval History (N. Y., 1907, American Book Co., 

$1.50). 
Robinson, J. H Readings in European History (Abridged ed., Boston, 1906, Ginn, 

$1.50). 
Thallon, Ida C. Readings in Greek History (Boston, 1914, Ginn, $2.00). 



Suggestions for Further Study xxxi 

Thatcher, O. J., and McNeal, E. H. A Source Book for Medieval History (N. Y., 

iQos, Scribner, $1.85). 
Webster, Hutton. Readings in A^tcieni History (N. Y., igi3, Heath, $1.12). 

Readings in Medieval and Modern History (N. Y., 1917, Heath, $1.12). 

Translations and Reprints from the Original Sources of European History (N. Y., 

1894-1899, Longmans, Green, and Co., 6 vols., each $1.50). 

Most of the books in the following list are inexpensive, easily procured, 
and well adapted in style and choice of topics to the needs of immature 
Modern pupils. A few more elaborate and costly volumes, especially 

Works valuable for their illustrations, are indicated by an asterisk (*) . 

For detailed bibliographies, often accompanied by critical estimates, see 
C. K. Adams, A Manual of Historical Literature (3d ed., N. Y., 1889, Harper, 
$2. 50), and the Bibliography of History for Schools and Libraries, parts iii-v. 

GENER.\L WORKS 

Carlyle, Thomas. On Heroes, Hero-Worship, and the Heroic in History (N. Y., 
1840, Button, 35 cents). 

Creasy, E. S. The Fifteen Decisive Battles of the World from Marathon to Waterloo 
(N. Y., 1854, Button, 35 cents). 

GiBBiNS, H. DE B. The History of Commerce in Europe (2d ed., N. Y., 1897, Mac- 
millan, go cents). 

Herbertson, a. J., and Herbertson, F. B. Man and His Work (3d ed., N. Y., 
19 14, Macmillan, 60 cents) . An introduction to the study of human geography. 

Jacobs, Joseph. The Story of Geographical Discovery (N. Y., 1898, Appleton, 35 
cents) . 

Jenks, Edward. A History of Politics (N. Y., 1900, Button, 35 cents). A very 
illuminating essay. 

EIeane, John. The Evolution of Geography (London, 1899, Stanford, 6s.). Help- 
fully illustrated. 

Myres, J. L. The Dawn of History (N. Y., 191 2, Holt, 50 cents). 

Pattison, R. p. B. Leading Figures in European History (N. Y., 1912, Mac- 
millan, $1.60). Biographical sketches of European statesmen from Charle- 
magne to Bismarck. 

Reinach, Salomon. Apollo; an Illustrated Manual of the History of Art through- 
out the Ages, translated by Florence Simmonds (last ed., N. Y., 1914, Scribner, 
$1.50). The best brief work on the subject. 

Seignobos, Charles. History of Ancient Civilization, edited by J. A. James (N. Y., 
1906, Scribner, $1.25). 

History of Medieval and of Modern Civilization, edited by J. A. James 

(N. Y., 1907, Scribner, $1.25). 

PREHISTORIC TIMES 

Clodd, Edward. The Story of Primitive Man (N Y., 1895, Appleton, 35 cents). 
Generally accurate and always interesting. 

The Childhood of the World (2d ed., N. Y., 1914, Macmillan, $1.25). 



Elliott, G. F. S. Prehistoric Man and His Story (Philadelphia, 1915, Lippincott, 

$2.00). 
HoLBROOK, Florence. Cave, Mound, and Lake Dwellers (N. Y., 191 1, Heath, 

44 cents). 



xxxii Suggestions for Further Study 

Mason, O. T. Woman's Share in Primitive Culture (N. Y., 1894, Appleton, $1.75). 

The only work on the subject; by a competent anthropologist. 
*OsBORN, H. F. Men of the Old Stone Age (N. Y., 1915, Scribner, $5.00). An 

authoritative, interesting, and amply illustrated work. 

* Spearing, H. G. The Childhood of Art (N. Y., 1913, Putnam, $6.00). Deals 

with primitive and Greek art; richly illustrated. 
Starr, Frederick. Some First Steps in Human Progress (Chautauqua, N. Y., 1895, 

Chautauqua Press, $1.00). A popular introduction to anthropology. 
Tylor, (Sir) E. B. Anthropology (N. Y., 1881, Appleton, $2.00). Incorporates the 

results of the author's extensive studies and still remains the best introduction 

to the entire field. 

ORIENTAL HISTORY 

Baikie, James. The Story of the Pharaohs (N. Y., 1908, Macmillan, $2.00). A 
popular work; well illustrated. 

* Ball, C. J. Light from the East (London, 1899, Eyre and Spottiswoode, 15^.). 

An account of Oriental archaeology, with special reference to the Old Testament. 
Banks, E. G. The Bible and the Spade (N. Y., 1913, Association Press, $1.00). A 
popular presentation of Oriental archaeology. 

* Breasted, J. H. A History of Egypt from the Earliest Times to the Persian Con- 

quest (2d ed., N. Y., 1909, Scribner, $5.00). The standard work on Egyptian 
history. 
Clay, A. T. Light on the East from Babel (4th ed., Philadelphia, 1915, Sunday 
School Times Co., $2.00). 

* Erman, Adolf. Life in Ancient Egypt (N. Y., 1894, Macmillan, $6.00). 

* Handcock, p. S. p. Mesopotamian Archaology (N. Y. 1912, Putnam, $3.5o)- 
Hogarth, D. G. The Ancient East (N. Y., 1915, Holt, 50 cents). "Home Univer- 
sity Library." 

* Jastrow, Morris, Jr. The Civilization of Babylonia and Assyria (Philadelphia, 

1915, Lippincott, $6.00). A finely illustrated work by a great scholar. 

Macalister, R. a. S. a History of Civilization in Palestine (N. Y., 191 2, Putnam, 
35 cents). "Cambridge Manuals." 

Maspero, (Sir) Gaston. Life in Ancient Egypt and Assyria (N.Y., 1892, Appleton, 
$1.50). Fascinating and authoritative. 

Ragozin, Zenaide a. Earliest Peoples (N. Y., 1899, Harison, 60 cents). A well- 
written, fully-illustrated account of prehistoric man and the beginnings of 
history in Babylonia. 

Early Egypt (N. Y., 1900, Harison, 60 cents). 

GREEK AND ROMAN HISTORY 

Abbott, Evelyn. Pericles and the Golden Age of Athens (N. Y., 1891, Putnam, 

$1 .50) . "Heroes of the Nations." 
Baikie, James. The Sea-Kings of Crete (2d ed., N. Y., 191 2, Macmillan, $1.75)- 

A clear and vivid summary of Cretan archaeology. 
Blijmner, Hugo. The Home Life of the Ancient Greeks, translated by Alice Zim- 

mem (3d ed., N. Y., 1910, Funk and Wagnalls Co., $2.00). 
Bulley, Margaret H. Ancient and Medieval Art (N. Y., 1914, Macmillan, $1.75)- 

An elementary treatment, particularly designed for schools. 
Church, A. J., and Oilman, Arthur. The Story of Carthage (N. Y., 1886, Putnam, 

$1.50). " Story of the Nations." 



Suggestions for Further Study xxxiii 

Davis, W. S. The Influence of Wealth in Imperial Rome (N. Y., 1910, Macmillan, 
$2.00). An interesting treatment of an important theme. 

A Day in Old Athens (Boston, 1914, AUyn and Bacon, $1.00). 

An Outline History of the Roman Empire (N. Y., igog, Macmillan, 65 cents). 

Covers the period 44 B.C. -3 7 8 a.d. 

* Dennie, John. Rome of To-day and Yesterday; the Pagan City (5th ed., N. Y., 

igog, Putnam, $3.50). 
Fowler, W. W. Rome (N. Y., igi2, Holt, 50 cents). 

The City-State of the Greeks and Romans (N. Y., i8g3, Macmillan, $1.00). 

The only constitutional history of the classical peoples intelligible to elementary 
students. 

Social Life at Rome in the Age of Cicero (N. Y., igog, Macmillan, 50 cents). 

In every way admirable. 

Julius CfBsar and the Foundation of the Roman Imperial System (2d ed.. 



N. Y., i8g7, Putnam, $1.50). "Heroes of the Nations." 

* Gardner, E. A. Ancient Athens (N. Y., igo2, Macmillan, $3.50). 

Gayley, C. M. The Classic Myths in English Literature and in Art (2d ed., Boston, 
igii, Ginn, $1.60). Of special importance for the illustrations. 

Goodyear, W. H. Roman and Medieval Art (2d ed., N. Y., i8g7, Macmillan, 
$1.00). 

Grant, A. J. Greece in the Age of Pericles (N. Y., i8g3, Scribner, $1.25). 

GuLiCK, C. B. The Life of the Ancient Greeks (N. Y., igo2, Appleton, $1.40). 

* Hall, H. R. J^gean Archceology (N. Y., igi5, Putnam, $3.75)- A well-written 

and well-illustrated volume. 
Hawes, C. H., and Hawes, Harriet B. Crete, the Forerunner of Greece (N. Y., 

igog. Harper, 75 cents). 
How, W. W. Hannibal and the Great War between Rome and Carthage (London, 

i8gg, Seeley, 2s). 
Jones, H. S. The Roman Empire, B.C. 2q~A.D. 476 (N. Y., igo8, Putnam, 

$1.50). "Story of the Nations." 

* Lanciani, Rudolfo. The Ruins and Excavations of Ancient Rome (Boston, 1898, 

Houghton Mifflin Co., $4.00). 
Mahaffy, J. P. Old Greek Life (N. Y., 1876, American Book Co., 35 cents). 
What have the Greeks done for Modern Civilization? (N. Y., igog, Putnam, 

$1.50). 
Mahaffy, J. P., and Gilman, Arthur. The Story of Alexander's Empire (N. Y., 

1887, Putnam, $1.50). The only concise narrative of the Hellenistic period. 

* Mau, August. Pompeii: its Life and Art, translated by F. W. Kelsey (N. Y., 

i8gg, Macmillan, $2.50). 

Morris, W. O'C. Hannibal and the Crisis of the Struggle between Carthage and 
Rome (N. Y., i8g7, Putnam, $1.50). "Heroes of the Nations." 

Oman, Charles. Seven Roman Statesmen of the Later Republic (N. Y., igo2, Long- 
mans, Green, and Co., $1.60). A biographical presentation of Roman history. 

Pellison, Maurice. Roman Life in Pliny's Time, translated by Maud Wilkinson 
(Philadelphia, i8g7, Jacobs, $1.00). 

Pickard-Cambridge, a. W. Demosthenes and the Last Days of Greek Freedom 
(N. Y., igi4, Putnam, $1 .50) . "Heroes of the Nations." 

Powers, H. H. The Message of Greek Art (N. Y., igi3, Macmillan, 50 cents). 

Preston, Harriet W., and Dodge, Louise. The Private Life of the Romans (N. Y., 
i8g3, Sanborn, $1.05). 



xxxiv Suggestions for Further Study 

Robinson, C. E. The Days of Alkihiades (N. Y., 1916, Longmans, Green, and 
Co., $1.50). A picture of Greek life and culture in the Age of Pericles. 

* Seymour, T. D. Life in the Homeric Age (N. Y., 1907, Macmillan, $4.00). 

* Stobart, J. C. The Glory that was Greece: a Survey of Hellenic Culture and Civiliza- 

tion (Philadelphia, 191 1, Lippincott, $7-5o)- 
* The Grandeur that was Rome: a Survey of Roman Culture and Civilization 

(Philadelphia, 1912, Lippincott, $7.5o)- 
Strachan-Davidson, J. S. Cicero and the Fall of the Roman Republic (N. Y., 

1894, Putnam, $1.50). "Heroes of the Nations." 
Tarbell, F. B. a History of Greek Art (2d ed., N. Y., 1905, Macmillan, $1.00). 
TozER, H. F. Classical Geography (N. Y., 1883, American Book Co., 35 cents). 

A standard manual. 
Tucker, T. G. Life in Ancient Athens (N. Y., 1906, Macmillan, $1.25). The most 

attractive treatment of the subject. 

Life in the Roman World of Nero and St. Paul (N. Y., 1910, Macmillan, 

$2.50). 

* Walters, H. B. The Art of the Greeks (N. Y., 1900, Macmillan, $6.00). 
* The Art of the Romans (N. Y., 1911, Macmillan, $5.00). 

* Weller, C. H. Athens and its Monuments (N. Y., 1913, Macmillan, $4.00). 
Wheeler, B. I. Alexander the Great and the Merging of East and West into Universal 

History (N. Y., 1900, Putnam, $1.50). "Heroes of the Nations." 
WiLKiNS, A. S. Roman Antiquities (N. Y., 1884, American Book Co., 35 cents). 

MEDIEVAL HISTORY 

Adams, G. B. The Growth of the French Nation (N. Y., 1896, Macmillan, $1.25). 

The best short history of France. 
Archer, T. A., and Kingsford, C. L. The Crusades (N. Y., 1894, Putnam, $1.50). 
Baring-Gould, Sabine. Curious Myths of the Middle Ages (N. Y., 1869, Longmans, 

Green, and Co., $1.25). 
Bateson, Mary. Medieval England (N. Y., 1903, Putnam, $1.50). Deals with 

social and economic life. " Story of the Nations." 
Cheyney, E. p. An Introduction to the Industrial and Social' History of England 

(N. Y., 1901, Macmillan, $1.40). The best brief work on the subject. 
Church, R. W. The Beginning of the Middle Ages (N. Y., 1877, Scribner, $1.00). 
CuTTS, E. L. Scenes and Characters of the Middle Ages (London, 1872, De La More 

Press, ys. 6d.). An almost indispensable book; illustrated. 
Davis, H. W. C. Medieval Europe (N. Y., 191 1, Holt, 50 cents). 

Charlemagne, the Hero of Two Nations (N. Y., 1899, Putnam, $1.50). 

"Heroes of the Nations." 

Emerton, Ephraim. An Introduction to the Study of the Middle Ages (Boston, 1888, 
Ginn, $1.10). The most satisfactory short account, and of special value to 
beginners. 

FOORD, Edward. The Byzantine Empire (N. Y., 191 1, Macmillan, $2.00). The 
most convenient short treatment; lavishly illustrated. 

* Gibbon, Edward. The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, 

edited by J. B. Bury (N. Y., 1914, Macmillan, 7 vols., $25.00). The best 
edition, illustrated and provided with maps, of this standard work. 

* Green, J. R. Short History of the English People, edited by Mrs. J. R. Green 

and Miss Kate Norgate (N. Y., 1 893-1 895, Harper, 4 vols., $20.00). A beauti- 
fully illustrated edition of this standard work. 



Suggestions for Further Study xxxv 

GuERBER, H. A. Legends of the Middle Ages (N. Y., 1896, American Book Co., 
$1.50). 

Haskins, C. H. The Normans in European History (Boston, 191 S> Houghton 
Mifflin Co., $2.00). 

HoDGKiN, Thomas. The Dynasty of Theodosius (N. Y., 1899, Oxford University- 
Press, American Branch, $1.50). Popular lectures summarizing the author's 
extensive studies. 

Jessopp, Augustus. The Coming of the Friars, and Other Historic Essays (N. Y., 
1888, Putnam, $1.25). A book of great interest. 

* Lacroix, Paul. Science and Literature in the' Middle Ages and at the Period of 

the Renaissance (London, 1880, Bickers and Son, out of print). 
Lawrence, W. W. Medieval Story (N. Y., 191 1, Columbia University Press, $1 .50) . 

Discusses the great Uterary productions of the Middle Ages. 
Ma\ver, Allen. The Vikings (N. Y, 1913, Putnam, 35 cents). 
MuNRO, D. C, and Sellery, G. C Medieval Civilization (2d ed., N. Y., 1907, 

Century Co., $2.00). Translated selections from standard works by French 

and German scholars. 
Rait, R. S. Life in the Medieval University (N. Y., 191 2, Putnam, 35 cents). 

"Cambridge Manuals." 
Synge, M. B. a Short History of Social Life in England (N. Y., 1906, Barnes, 

$1.50). 
Tappan, Eva M. When Knights were Bold (Boston, 191 2, Houghton Mifflin 

Co., $2.00). An economic and social study of the Feudal Age; charmingly 

written. 
TiCKNER, F. W. A Social and Industrial History of England (N. Y., 191 5, Long- 
mans, Green, and Co., $1.00). Very simply written and well illustrated. 

* Wright, Thomas. The Homes of Other Days (London, 1871, Triibner, out of 

print) . Valuable for both text and illustrations. 

TRANSITION TO MODERN TIMES 

Cheyney, E. p. European Background of American History, 1 300-1600 (N. Y., 
1904, Harper, $2.00). 

Creighton, Mandell. The Age of Elizabeth (13th ed., N. Y., 1897, Scribner, 
$1.00). "Epochs of Modern History." 

FiSKE, John. The Discovery and Colonization of North America (Boston, 1905, 
Ginn, 90 cents). 

Gardiner, S. R. The Thirty Years' War (N. Y., 1874, Scribner, $1.00). 

Goodyear, W. H. Renaissance and Modern Art (N. Y., 1894, Macmillan, $1.00). 

Hudson, W. H. The Story of the Renaissance (N. Y., 191 2, Cassell, |i .50) . A well- 
written volume. 

Hulme, E. M. The Renaissance, the Protestant Revolution, and the Catholic Reforma- 
tion in Continental Europe (rev. ed., N. Y., 1915, Century Co., $2.50). The 
best work on the subject by an American scholar. 

* Joyce, T. A. Mexican Archceology (N. Y., 1914, Putnam, $4.00). 
South American Archeology (N. Y., 1912, Putnam, $3.50)- 

Kerr, P. H., and Kerr, A. C. The Growth of the British Empire (N. Y., 1911, 

Longmans, Green, and Co., 50 cents). 
Oldham, J. B. The Renaissance (N. Y., 191 2, Dutton, 35 cents). 
Seebohm, Frederic. The Era of the Protestant Revolution (N. Y., 1875, Scribner, 

$1.00). "Epochs of Modern History." 



EARLY 
EUROPEAN HISTORY 



CHAPTER I 
THE AGES BEFORE HISTORY 

1. The Study of History 

History is the narrative of what civiHzed man has done. It 
deals with those social groups called states and nations. Just 
as biography de- Subject mat- 
scribes the Hfe of *e^ ^^ history 
individuals, so history relates 
the rise, progress, and decline 
of human societies. 

History cannot go back of 
written records. These alone 
will preserve a Manuscripts 
full and accurate ^"^^ ^o^ks 
account of man's achieve- 
ments. Manuscripts and 
books form one class of writ- 
ten records. The old Baby- 
lonians used tablets of soft 
clay, on which signs were im- 
pressed with a metal instru- 
ment. The tablets were then 
baked hard in an oven. The 
Egyptians made a kind of 
paper out of the papyrus, a plant native to the Nile valley. The 
Greeks and Romans at first used papyrus, but later they employed 
the more lasting parchment prepared from sheepskin. Paper 
seems to have been a Chinese invention. It was introduced 
into Europe by the Arabs during the twelfth century of our era. 




The Disk of Ph^stus 

Found in 1908 a.d. in the palace at Phaes- 
tus, Crete. The disk is of refined clay on 
which the figures were stamped in relief with 
punches. Both sides of the disk are covered 
with characters. The side seen in the illustra- 
tion contains 31 sign groups (123 signs) sepa- 
rated from one another by incised lines. The 
other side contains 30 sign groups (118 signs). 
The inscription dates from about 1800 B.C. 



The Ages before History 



A second class of written records consists of inscriptions. 
These are usually cut in stone, but sometimes we find them 
Inscriptions painted over the surface of a wall, stamped on 
and remains coins, or impressed upon metal tablets. The his- 
torian also makes use of remains, such as statues, ornaments, 










A Papyrus Manuscript 

The pith of the papyrus, a plant native to the Nile valley, was cut into slices, 
which were then pressed together and dried in the sun. Several of the paper sheets 
thus formed were glued together at their edges to form a roll. From papyros 
and byblos, the two Greek names of this plant, have come our own words, 
" paper " and " Bible." The illustration shows a manuscript discovered in Egypt 
in 1890 A.D. It is supposed to be a treatise, hitherto lost, on the Athenian con- 
stitution by the Greek philosopher Aristotle. 

weapons, tools, and utensils. Monuments of various sorts, in- 
cluding palaces, tombs, fortresses, bridges, temples, and churches, 
form a very important class of remains. 

History, based on written records, begins in different coun- 
Beginnings tries at varying dates. A few manuscripts and 
of history inscriptions found in Egypt date back three or 

four thousand years before Christ. The annals of Babylonia are 



Prehistoric Peoples 



scarcely less ancient. Trustworthy records in China and India 
do not extend beyond looo B.C. For the Greeks and Romans 
the commencement of the historic period must be placed 
about 750 B.C. The inhabitants of northern Europe did not 
come into the light of history until about the opening of the 
Christian era. 

2. Prehistoric People 

In studying the historic period our chief concern is with those 
peoples whose ideas or whose deeds 
have aided human The prehis- 
progress and the toric period 
spread of civilization. Six-sevenths 
of the earth's inhabitants now be- 
long to civilized countries, and 
these countries include the best and 
largest regions of the globe. At the 
beginning of historic times, how- 
ever, civilization was confined 
within a narrow area — the river 
valleys of western Asia and Egypt. 
The uncounted centuries before the 
dawn of history make up the pre- 
historic period, when savagery and 
barbarism prevailed throughout 
the world. Our knowledge of it is 
derived from the examination of 
the objects found in caves, refuse mounds, graves, and other 
sites. Various European countries, including England, France, 
Denmark, Switzerland, and Italy, are particularly rich in pre- 
historic remains. 

The prehistoric period is commonly divided, according to the 
character of the materials used for tools and weapons, into the 
Age of Stone and the Age of Metals. The one is 
the age of savagery; the other is the age of bar- 
barism or semicivilization. 

Man's earliest implements were those that lay ready to his 




A Prehistoric Egyptian 
Grave 

The skeleton lay on the left side, 
with knees drawn up and hands raised 
to the head. About it were various 
articles of food and vessels of pottery. 



The two ages 



The Ages before History 




OF 



A Hatchet 
THE Early 
Stone i\.GE 



hand. A branch from a tree served as a spear; a thick stick in 
The stone his strong arms became a powerful club. Later, 
Ag® perhaps, came the use of a hard stone such as flint, 

which could be chipped into the forms of arrowheads, axes, and 
spear tips. The first stone implements were 
so rude in shape that it is difiicult to believe 
them of human workmanship. They may have 
been made several hundred thousand years ago. 
After countless centuries of slow advance, sav- 
ages learned to fasten wooden handles to their 
stone tools and weapons and also to use such 
materials as jade and granite, which could be 
ground and polished into a variety of forms. 
Stone implements continued to be made dur- 
ing the greater part of the prehistoric period. 
Every region of the world has had a Stone 
Age.^ Its length is reckoned, not by centuries, 
but by milleniums. 

The Age of Metals, compared with its prede- 
The Age of cessor, covers a brief expanse of 
Metals time. The use of metals came in 

not much before the dawn of history. The earliest civilized 
peoples, the Babylonians and Egyptians, Avhen we first become 
acquainted with them, appear to be passing from the use of 
stone implements to those of metal. 

Copper was the first metal in common use. The credit for 
the invention of copper tools seems to belong to the Eg>^- 
tians. At a very early date they were working the 
copper mines on the peninsula of Sinai. The Baby- 
lonians probably obtained their copper from the same region. 
Another source of this metal was the island of Cyprus in the 
eastern Mediterranean. The Greek name of the island means 
''copper." 

1 There are still some savage peoples, for instance, the Australians, who con- 
tinue to make stone implements very similar to those of prehistoric men. Other 
primitive peoples, such as the natives of the Pacific islands, passed directly from the 
use of stone to that of iron, after this part of the world was opened up to European 
trade in the nineteenth century. 



A hatchet of flint, 
probably used with- 
out a helve and in- 
tended to fit the 
hand. Similar im- 
plements have 
been found all over 
the world, except in 
Australia. 



Copper 



Prehistoric Peoples 5 

But copper tools were soft and would not keep an edge. 
Some ancient smith, more ingenious than his fellows, discovered 
that the addition of a small part of tin to the copper 
produced a new metal — bronze — harder than 
the old, yet capable of being molded into a variety of forms. 
At least as early as 3000 B.C. we find bronze taking the place 
of copper in both Egypt and Babylonia. Somewhat later bronze 



Bronze 




Iron 



Arrowheads or the Later Stone Age 

Different forms from Europe, Africa, and North America. 

was introduced into the island of Crete, then along the eastern 
coast of Greece, and afterwards into other European countries. 

The introduction of iron occurred in comparatively recent 
times. At first it was a scarce, and therefore a very precious, 
metal. The Egyptians seem to have made little 
use of iron before 1500 B.C. They called it "the 
metal of heaven," as if they obtained it from meteorites. In 
the Greek Homeric poems, composed about 900 B.C. or later, 
we find iron considered so valuable that a lump of it is one of 
the chief prizes at athletic games. In the first five books 
of the Bible iron is mentioned only thirteen times, though 
copper and bronze are referred to forty-four times. Iron is 
more difficult to work than either copper or bronze, but it is 
vastly superior to those metals in hardness and durability. 
Hence it gradually displaced them throughout the greater part 
of the Old World.i 

During the prehistoric period early man came to be widely 

1 Iron was unknown to the inhabitants of North America and South America 
before the coming of the Europeans. The natives used many stone implements, 
besides those of copper and bronze. The Indians got most of their copper from the 
mines in the Lake Superior region, whence it was carried far and wide. 



6 The Ages before History 

scattered throughout the world. Here and there, slowly, and 
First steps ^^^^ ^^^ Utmost difficulty, he began to take the 
toward civiii- first steps toward civilization. The tools and 
^**^°° weapons which he left behind him afford some 

evidence of his advance. We may now single out some of his 
other great achievements and follow their development to the 
dawn of history. 

3. Domestication of Animals and Plants 

Prehistoric man lived at first chiefly on wild berries, nuts, 
roots, and herbs. As his implements improved and his skill 
Hunting and increased, he became hunter, trapper, and fisher, 
fishing stage ^ ^j-j^g Qf hunters, however, requires an extensive 
territory and a constant supply of game. When the wild animals 
are all killed or seriously reduced in number, privation and hard- 
ship result. It was a forward step, therefore, when man began 
to tame animals as well as to kill them. 

The dog was man's first conquest over the animal kingdom. 
As early as the Age of Metals various breeds appear, such as 
Domestica- deerhounds, sheep dogs, and mastiffs. The dog 
tion of the soon showed how useful he could be. He tracked 
°^ game, guarded the camp, and later, in the pas- 

toral stage, protected flocks and herds against their enemies. 

The cow also w^as domesticated at a remote period. No 
other animal has been more useful to mankind. The cow's 

flesh and milk supply food; the skin provides 
The cow , , . , . ^^/ ' , , . f , 

clothmg; the smews, bones, and horns yield mate- 
rials for implements. The ox was early trained to bear the yoke 
and draw the plow, as w^e may learn from ancient Eg}^tian 
paintings.^ Cattle have also been commonly used as a kind of 
money. The early Greeks, whose wealth consisted chiefly of 
their herds, priced a slave at twenty oxen, a suit of armor at one 
hundred oxen, and so on. The early Romans reckoned values 
in cattle (one ox being equivalent to ten sheep). Our English 
word "pecuniary" goes back to the Latin pecus, or "herd" of 
cattle. 

1 See the illustration, page 45. 




Domestication of Animals and Plants 7 

The domestication of the horse came much later than that of 
the cow. In the early Stone Age the horse ran wild over west- 
ern Europe and ^^ , 

^ . The horse 

formed an im- 
portant source of food for 
primitive men. This prehis- 
toric horse, as some ancient 
drawings show,^ was a small 
animal with a shaggy mane 
and tail. It resembled the Early Roman Bar Money 

wild pony still found on the a bar of copper marked with the figure of a 
/• TV r 1. rm 1 bull. Dates from the fourth century B.C. 

steppes 01 Mongolia, i he do- 
mesticated horse does not appear in Egypt and western Asia 
much before 1500 B.C. For a long time after the horse was 
tamed, the more manageable ox continued to be used as the beast 
of burden. The horse was kept for chariots of war, as among the 
Egyptians, or ridden bareback in races, as by the early Greeks. 

At the close of prehistoric times in the Old World nearly all 
the domestic animals of to-day were known. Be- other ani- 
sides those just mentioned, the goat, sheep, ass, mais domes- 
and hog had become man's useful servants.^ ^^ ^ 

The domestication of animals made possible an advance from 
the hunting and fishing stage to the pastoral stage. Herds of 
cattle and sheep would now furnish more certain Pastoral 
and abundant supplies of food than the chase could ^*^se 
ever yield. We find in some parts of the world, as on the great 
Asiatic plains, the herdsman succeeding the hunter and fisher. 
But even in this stage much land for grazing is required. With 
the exhaustion of the pasturage the sheep or cattle must be 
driven to new fields. Hence pastoral peoples, as well as hunting 
and fishing folk, remained nomads without fixed homes. Before 
permanent settlements were possible, another onward step 
became necessary. This was the domestication of plants. 

^ See the illustration, page 14. 

2 In the New World, the only important domestic animal was the llama of the 
Andes. The natives used it as a beast of burden, ate its flesh, and clothed themselves 
with its wool. 



8 The Ages before History 

The domestication of plants marked almost as wonderful 
an advance as the domestication of animals. When wild seed- 
Agricultural grasses and plants had been transformed into the 
stage gj-eat cereals — wheat, oats, barley, and rice — 

people could raise them for food, and so could pass from the hfe 
of wandering hunters or shepherds to the life of settled farmers. 
There is evidence that during the Stone Age some of the inhabit- 
ants of Europe were familiar with various cultivated plants, but 
agriculture on a large scale seems to have begun in the fertile 
regions of Egypt and western Asia.^ Here first arose populous 
communities with leisure to develop the arts of Hfe. Here, as has 
been already seen,^ we must look for the beginnings of history. 

4. Writing and the Alphabet 

Though history is always based on written records, the first 
steps toward writing are prehistoric. We start with the pictures 
Picture or rough drawings which have been found among 

writing the remains of the early Stone Age.^ Primitive 

man, however, could not rest satisfied with portraying objects. 

^ 2 3 4 5 

Various Signs of Symbolic Picture Writing 

I, "war" (Dakota Indian); 2, "morning" (Ojibwa Indian); 3, " nothing" (Ojibwa In- 
dian); 4 and s, " to eat" (Indian, Mexican, Egyptian, etc.)- 

He wanted to record thoughts and actions, and so his pictures 
tended to become symbols of ideas. The figure of an arrow 
might be made to represent, not a real object, but the idea 
of an ''enemy." A "fight" could then be shown simply by 
drawing two arrows directed against each other. Many un- 
civilized tribes still employ picture writing of this sort. The 
American Indians developed it in most elaborate fashion. On 

1 The plants domesticated in the New World were not numerous. The most 
important were the potato of Peru and Ecuador, Indian com or maize, tobacco, the 
tomato, and manioc. From the roots of the latter, the starch called tapioca is 
derived. 2 See page 2. 3 See the illustration, page 14. 




Writing and the Alphabet 9 

rolls of birch bark or the skins of animals they wrote messages, 
hunting stories, and songs, and even preserved tribal annals 
extending over a century. 

A new stage in the development of writing was reached when 
the picture represented, not an actual object or an idea, but a 
sound of the human voice. This difficult but all- goy^d writ- 
important step appears to have been taken through ing; the 
the use of the rebus, that is, writing words by pic- 
tures of objects which stand 
PFTT^ ik fTP^ for sounds. Such rebuses 
^ are found m prehistoric 

Mexican Rebus Egyptian writing; for ex- 

The Latin Pater Nosier, "Our Father," is ample, the Egyptian WOrds 
written by a flag (pan), a stone (te), a prickly fQj- ''sun" and "gOOSe"were 
pear (mocA), and another stone (/e). . ... , , 

SO nearly alike that the 
royal title, "Son of the Sun," could be suggested by grouping 
the pictures of the sun and a goose. Rebus making is still a 
common game among children, but to primitive men it must 
have been a serious occupation. 

Song (an ear 
Sun Moon Mountain Tall and a bird) Light 

O J) V 1^ •s'l ©J) 

Chinese Picture Writing and Later Conventional Characters 

In the simplest form of sound writing each separate picture or 
symbol stands for the sound of an entire word. This method 
was employed by the Chinese, who have never Words and 
given it up. A more developed form of sound syllables 
writing occurs when signs are used for the sounds, not of entire 
words, but of separate syllables. Since the number of different 
syllables which the voice can utter is limited, it now becomes 
possible to write all the words of a language with a few hundred 
signs. The Japanese, who borrowed some of the Chinese 
symbols, used them to denote syllables, instead of entire words. 



lO 



The Ages before History 




The Babylonians possessed, in their cuneiform ^ characters, 
signs for about five hundred syllables. The prehistoric in- 
habitants of Crete appear to have been acquainted with a 

somewhat similar system. ^ 
The final step in the de- 
velopment of writing is 

taken when 
Letters 

the separate 

sounds of the voice are 
analyzed and each is rep- 
resented by a single sign or 
letter. With alphabets of 
a few score letters every 
word in a language may 
easily be written. 

The Egyptians early de- 
veloped such an alphabet. 
Unfortunately they never 
gave up their older meth- 
ods of writing and learned 
Egyptian hi- to rely upon 
eroglyphics alphabetic 
signs alone. Egyptian 
hieroglyphics ^ are a curious jumble of object-pictures, symbols 
of ideas, and signs for entire words, separate syllables, and 
letters. The writing is a museum of all the steps in the 
development from the picture to the letter. 

As early, apparently, as the tenth century B.C. we find the 
Phoenicians of western Asia in possession of an alphabet. It 
consisted of twenty-two letters, each representing a consonant. 
Phoenician The Phoenicians do not seem to have invented 
alphabet ^j^gj^j- alphabetic signs. It is • generally believed 

that they borrowed them from the Egyptians, but recent dis- 
coveries in Crete perhaps point to that island as the source of 
the Phoenician alphabet. 

1 Latin cuneus, "a wedge." 2 ggg page 71. 

2 From the Greek words hieros, "holy," and glyphein, "to carve." The Egyp- 
tians regarded their signs as sacred. 



Cretan Writing 

A large tablet with linear script found in the 
palace at Gnossus, Crete. There are eight lines 
of writing, with a total of about twenty words. 
Notice the upright lines, which appear to mark 
the termination of each group of signs. 



Primitive Science and Art 



II 



If they did not originate the alphabet now in use, the Phoeni- 
cians did most to spread a knowledge of it in other lands. They 
were bold sailors and traders who bought and sold Diffusion of 
throughout the Mediterranean. Wherever they the Phoenician 
went, they took their alphabet. From the Phoe- ^p^*^^* 
nicians the Greeks learned their letters. Then the Greeks 



^^ 



I 5 



^Zi 



l<0 /© fc- 



lU 



% r^^'t^f^^i'A) 



^ 



SI 




* 



^^HTT^^M-C^^im^ t^;^-5^T^TTr* 



-*rt2S 



yf ;|TTi tr^t^^lM 4^ST m^ 



Egyptian and Babylonian Writing 



Below the pictured hieroglyphics in the first Une is the same text in a simpler writing 
known as hieratic. The two systems, however, were not distinct; they were as identical as 
cur own printed and written characters. The third line illustrates old Babylonian cunei- 
form, in which the characters, Uke the hieroglyphics, are rude and broken-down pictures of 
objects. Derived from them is the later cuneiform shown in lines four and five. 

taught them to the Romans, from whom other European 
peoples borrowed them.^ 

5. Primitive Science and Art 

We have already seen that prehistoric men in their struggle 
for existence had gathered an extensive fund of information. 
They could make useful and artistic implements Foundations 
of stone. They could work many metals into a of scientific 
variety of tools and weapons. They were practi- ^°^^®^s® 
cal botanists, able to distinguish different plants and to culti- 
vate them for food. They were close students of animal 

1 Our word "alphabet" comes from the names of the first two letters of the 
Greek alphabet, alpha (o) and beta {b) . 



12 



The Ages before History 



life and expert hunters and fishers. They knew how to pro- 
duce fire and preserve it, how to cook, how to fashion pottery 

and baskets, how to spin 
and weave, how to build 
boats and houses. After writ- 
ing came into general use, all 
this knowledge served as the 
foundation of science. 

We can still distinguish 
some of the first steps in sci- 
Counting and en tific k n O W 1 - 
measuring ^^g^^ Thus, 

counting began with calcula- 
tions on one's fingers, a 
method still familiar to 
children. P'inger counting ex- 
plains the origin of the deci- 
mal system. The simplest, 
and probably the earliest, 
measures of length are those 
based on various parts of the 
body. Some of our Indian 
tribes, for instance, employed 
the double arm's length, the 
single arm's length, the hand 
w^idth, and the finger width. 
Old English standards, such 
hand, go back to this very 




The Moabite Stone 

Louvre, Paris 

Found in 1868 A.D. at Diban, east of the 
Dead Sea. The monument records the victory 
of Mesha, king of Moab, over the united armies 
of Israel and Judah, about 850 B.C. The in- 
scription, consisting of 34 lines, is one of the 
most ancient examples of Phoenician writing. 



as the span, the ell, and the 

obvious method of measuring on the body. 

It is interesting to trace the beginnings of time reckoning and 
of that most important institution, the calendar. Most primi- 
Calcuiation of ^^^^ tribes reckon time by the lunar month, the 
time; the interval between two new moons (about twenty- 
nine days, twelve hours). Twelve lunar months 
give us the lunar year of about three hundred and fifty-four 
days. In order to adapt such a year to the different seasons, 
the practice arose of inserting a thirteenth month from time 



Primitive Science and Art 



13 





to time. Such awkward calendars were used in antiquity by 
the Babylonians, Jews, and Greeks; in modern times by the 
Arabs and Chinese. The Egyptians were the only people in 
the Old World to frame a solar year. From the Egyptians it 
has come down, 
through the Ro- 
mans, to us.^ 

The study of pre- 
historic art takes 

us back Early draw- 
to the ing and paint- 

early ^^^ 

Stone Age. The 

men of that age in 

western Europe lived 

among animals such 

as the mammoth, 

cave bear, and 

woolly-haired r h i - 

noceros, which have 

since disappeared, and among many others, such as the lion 

and hippopotamus, which now exist only in warmer climates. 

Armed with clubs, flint axes, and horn daggers, primitive 

hunters killed these fierce beasts and on fragments of their 

bones, or on cavern walls, drew pictures of them. Some of 

these earliest works of art are remarkably lifelike. 

A still later period of the Stone Age witnessed the begin- 
nings of architecture. Men had begun to raise Early archi- 
the huge dolmens which are found in various parts lecture 
of the Old World from England to India. They also erected 
enormous stone pillars, known as menhirs. Carved in the 
semblance of a human face and figure, the menhir became a 
statue, perhaps the first ever made. 

As we approach historic times, we note a steady improve- 
ment in the various forms of art. Recent discoveries in Egypt, 
Greece, Italy, and other lands indicate that their early inhabit- 
^ See page 186 and note 2. 



Head of a Girl 

Musee S. Germain, Paris 

A small head of a young girl carved from mammoth 
ivory. Found at Brassempouy, France, in cave deposits 
belonging to the early Stone Age. The hair is arranged 
somewhat after the early Egyptian fashion. Of the fea- 
tures the mouth alone is wanting. 




Sketch of Mammoth on a Tusk found in a Cave in France 




^' Cave Bear drawn on a Pebble 



Bison painted on the Wall of a Cave 




Wild Horse on the Wall of a Cave in Spain 

PREHISTORIC ART 

Later be pictured an aurochs — later he pictured a bear — 

Pictured the sabre-toothed tiger dragging a man to his lair — 

Pictured the mountainous mammoth, hairy, abhorrent, alone — 

Out of the love that he bore them, scribing them clearly on bone. — Kipling. 

14 



Historic Peoples 



IS 



ants were able architects, often building on a colossal scale. 
Their paintings and sculptures prepared the way significance 
for the work of later artists. Our survey of the of prehistoric 
origins of art shows us that in this field, as else- 
where, we must start with the things accomplished by prehis- 
toric men. 

6. Historic Peoples 

At the dawn of history the various regions of the world were 

already „ 

•^ Races of man 
m the 

possession of many 
different peoples. 
Such physical char- 
acteristics as the 
shape of the skull, 
the features, stature, 
or complexion may 
serve to distinguish 
one people from 
another. Other 
grounds for distinc- 
tion are found in 
language, customs. 



n 



^^^^^^ — . — . wjr >j^.^^. 








A Dolmen 

Department of Morbihan, Brittany 



A dolmen was a single-chambered tomb formed by lay- 
ing one long stone over several other stones set upright in 
the ground. Most, if not all, dolmens were originally cov- 

beliefs, and general ered with earth. 
intelhgence. 

If we take complexion or color as the basis of classification, 
it is possible to distinguish a few large racial groups. Each of 
these groups occupies, roughly speaking, its sepa- classification 
rate area of the globe. The most familiar classi- °^ ^^^^^ 
fication is that which recognizes the Black or Negro race dwell- 
ing in Africa, the Yellow or Mongolian race whose home is in 
central and eastern Asia, and the White or Caucasian race of 
western Asia and Europe. Sometimes two additional divi- 
sions are made by including, as the Red race, the American 
Indians, and as the Brown race, the natives of the Pacific 
islands. 



i6 



The Ages before History 



Indo-Euro- 
peans and 
Semites 

Semites.^ 



These separate racial groups have made very unequal progress 
in culture. The peoples belonging to the Black, Red, and 
The White Brown races are still either savages or barbarians, as 
"*^® were the men of prehistoric times. The Chinese 

and Japanese are the only representatives of the Yellow race 

that have been able to form civil- 
ized states. In the present, as in 
the past, it is chiefly the members of 
the White race who are developing 
civilization and making history. 

Because of differences in language, 
scholars have divided the White or 
Caucasian race into two 
main groups, called 
Indo-Europeans and 
This classification is often 
helpful, but the student should re- 
member that Indo-European and 
Semitic peoples are not always to be 
sharply distinguished because they 
have different types of language. 
There is no very clear distinction in 
physical characteristics between the 
two groups. A clear skin, an oval face, wavy or curly hair, and 
regular features separate them from both the Negro and the 
Mongohan. 

The Indo-Europeans in antiquity included the Hindus of 
Principal India, the Medes and Persians dwelhng on the 

Indo-Euro- plateau of Iran, the Greeks and Italians, j and 
pean peop es ^^^^ q£ ^j^g inhabitants of central and western 
Europe. All these peoples spoke related languages which are 
believed to be offshoots from one common tongue. Likeness 
in language does not imply that all Indo-Europeans were 

1 The Old Testament {Genesis, x. 21-22) represents Shem (or Sem), son of 
Noah, as the ancestor of the Semitic peoples. The title "Indo-Europeans" tells us 
that the members of that group now dwell in India and in Europe. Indo-European 
peoples are popularly called "Aryans," from a word in Sanskrit (the old Hindu 
language) meaning "noble." 




Carved Menhir 

From Saint Sernin in Aveyron, a 
department of southern France. 



Historic Peoples 



17 



closely related in blood. Men often adopt a foreign tongue 
and pass it on to their children. 

The various Semitic nations dweUing in western Asia and 
Arabia were more closely connected with one another. They 
spoke much the same type of language, and in pj-incipai 
physical traits and habits of Hfe they appear to Semitic 
have been akin. The Semites in antiquity included ^®°^ ^^ 
the Babylonians and Assyrians, the Hebrews, Phoenicians, and 
Arabs. 





Race Portraiture of the Egyptians 

Paintings on the walls of royal tombs. The Egyptians were painted red, the Semites 
yellow, the Negroes black, and the Libyans white, with blue eyes and fair beards. Each 
racial type is distinguished by peculiar dress and characteristic features. 



At the opening of the historic period still other parts of the 
world were the homes of various peoples who cannot be classed 
with certainty as either Indo-Europeans or Semites, peoples of 
Among these were the Egyptians and some of the uncertain re- 
inhabitants of Asia Minor. We must remember * ^°°^ ^^ 
that, during the long prehistoric ages, repeated conquests and 
migrations mingled the blood of many different communities. 
History, in fact, deals with no unmixed peoples. 



i8 



The Ages before History 




ATLANTIC, 
OCEAN 



.,„,r^IP EURO 



Longitude 20° East from 40 ° Greenwich 



Studies 

I. On an outline map indicate the areas occupied in antiquity by Semites and 
Indo-Europeans. 2. Find definitions for the following terms: society, nation, 
state, government, institution, culture,, and civilization. 3. Explain the abbre- 
viations B.C. and A.D. In what century was the year 1917 B.C.? the year 1917 a.d.? 
4. Look up the derivation of the words "paper" and "Bible." 5. Distinguish 
between the three stages of savagery, barbarism, and civilization, and give examples 
of existing peoples in each stage. 6. Can you name any savages still living in the 
Stone Age? 7. What stone implements have you ever seen? Who made them? 
Where were they? 8. Why should the discovery of fire be regarded as of more 
significance than the discovery of steam? 9. Why has the invention of the bow- 
and-arrow been of greater importance than the invention of gunpowder? 10. How 
does the presence of few tamable animals in the New World help to account for its 
tardier development as compared with the Old World? 11. What examples of pas- 
toral and agricultural life among the North American Indians are familiar to you? 
12. Give examples of peoples widely different in blood who nevertheless speak the 
same language. 13. In the classification of mankind, where do the Arabs belong? 
the Persians? the Germans? the inhabitants of the United States? 14. Enumerate 
the most important contributions to civilization made in prehistoric times. 



CHAPTER II 
THE LANDS AND PEOPLES OF THE EAST TO ABOUT 500B.C.1 

7. Physical Asia 

Ancient history begins in the East — in Asia and in that part 
of Africa called Egypt, which the peoples of antiquity always 
regarded as belonging to Asia. If we look at a Grand divi- 
physical map of Asia, we see at once that it consists ^^°°^ °^ ^^^* 
of two very unequal divisions separated by an almost continu- 
ous mass of mountains and deserts. These two divisions are 
Farther and Nearer, or Eastern and Western, Asia. 

Farther Asia begins at the center of the continent with a 

series of elevated table-lands which rise into the lofty plateaus 

known as the "Roof of the World." Here two _ ^, . . 

. Farther Asia 
tremendous mountain chains diverge. The Altai 

range runs out to the northeast and reaches the shores of the 
Pacific near Bering Strait. The Himalaya range extends 
southeast to the Malay peninsula. In the angle formed by 
their intersection Hes the cold and barren region of East Tur- 
kestan and Tibet, the height of which, in some places, is ten 
thousand feet above the sea. From these mountains and 
plateaus the ground sinks gradually toward the north into the 
lowlands of West Turkestan and Siberia, toward the east and 
south into the plains of China and India. 

The fertile territory of central China, watered by the two 
streams, Yangtse and Hoangho, was settled at a remote period 
by barbarous tribes. The civilization which they 
slowly developed in antiquity has endured with 
little change until the present day. The inhabitants of neighbor- 
ing countries, Korea, Japan, and Indo-China, owe much to 

1 Webster, Readings in Ancient History, chapter ii, "The Founders of the 
Persian Empire: Cyrus, Cambyses, and Darius." 

19 



20 The Lands and Peoples of the East 

this civilization. It has exerted slight influence on the other 
peoples of Asia because the Chinese have always occupied a 
distant corner of the continent, cut off by deserts and mountains 
from the lands on the west. As if these barriers were not enough, 
they raised the Great Wall to protect their country from inva- 



.ac 



m 





jn 


^ 


^ 


'■^ 


^^ 




The Great Wall of China 

The wall extends for about fifteen hundred miles along the northern frontier of 
China. In 1908 a.d. it was traversed for its entire length by an American, Mr. W. 
E. Geil. He found many parts of the fortification still in good repair, though built 
twenty -one centuries ago. 

sion. Behind this mighty rampart the Chinese have lived 
secluded and aloof from the progress of our western world. In 
ancient times China was a land of mystery. 

India was better known than China, especially its two great 
rivers, the Indus and the Ganges, which flow to the southwest 
and southeast, respectively, and make this part 
of the peninsula one of the most fertile territories 
on the globe. Such a land attracted immigrants. The region 
now known as the Punjab, where the Indus receives the w^aters 
of five great streams, was settled by light-skinned Indo-Euro- 
peans ^ perhaps as early as 2000 B.C. Then they occupied the 
valley of the Ganges and so brought aU northern India under 
their control. 

1 See page i6. 



Physical Asia 21 

India did not remain entirely isolated from the rest of Asia. 
The Punjab was twice conquered by invaders from the West; 
by the Persians in the sixth century B.C./ and India and the 
about two hundred years later by the Greeks.- ^®^* 
After the end of foreign rule India continued to be of im- 
portance through its commerce, which introduced such luxu- 
ries as precious stones, spices, and ivory among the western 
peoples. 

Nearer, or Western Asia, the smaller of the two grand divisions 
of the Asiatic continent, is bounded by the Black and Caspian 
seas on the north, by the Red Sea, Persian Gulf, . 

and Indian Ocean on the south, eastward by the 
Indus River, and westward by the Mediterranean and the Nile. 
Almost all the countries within this area played a part in the 
ancient history of the Orient. 

The lofty plateaus of central Asia decline on the west into 
the lower but still elevated region of Iran. The western part of 
Iran was occupied in antiquity by the kindred Countries of 
people known as Medes and Persians. Armenia, Nearer Asia 
a wild and mountainous region, is an extension to the northwest 
of the Iranian table-land. Beyond Armenia we cross into the 
peninsula of Asia Minor, a natural link between Asia and 
Europe. Southward from Asia Minor we pass along the Med- 
iterranean coast through Syria to Arabia. The Arabian penin- 
sula may be regarded as the link between Asia and Africa. 

These five countries of Nearer Asia were not well fitted to 
become centers of early civilization. They possessed no great 
rivers which help to bring people together, and no influence of 
broad, fertile plains which support a large popu- geographical 
lation. Armenia, Asia Minor, and Syria were *^°° ^*^°^^ 
broken up into small districts by chains of mountains. Iran 
and Arabia were chiefly barren deserts. But two other divisions 
of Nearer Asia resembled distant India and China in the pos- 
session of a warm climate, a fruitful soil, and an extensive river 
system. These lands were Babylonia and Egypt, the first 
homes of civilized man. 

^ See page 39. 2 See page 125. 



22 The Lands and Peoples of the East 

8. Babylonia and Egypt 

Two famous rivers rise in the remote fastnesses of Armenia — 
the Tigris and the Euphrates. As they flow southward, the 
The Tigris ^^^'^^ Streams approach each other to form a 
and the common valley, and then proceed in parallel 

up rates channels for the greater part of their course. In 
antiquity each river emptied into the Persian Gulf by a separate 
mouth. This Tigris-Euphrates valley was called by the Greeks 
Mesopotamia, "the land between the rivers." 

Babylonia is a remarkably productive country. The annual 
inundation of the rivers has covered its once rocky bottom with 
Productions deposits of rich silt. Crops planted in such a soil, 
of Babylonia under the influence of a blazing sun, ripen with 
great rapidity and yield abundant harvests. "Of all the coun- 
tries that we know," says an old Greek traveler, "there is no 
other so fruitful in grain." ^ Wheat and barley w^ere perhaps 
first domesticated in this part of the world.^ Wheat still grows 
wild there. Though Babylonia possessed no forests, it had the 
date palm, which needed scarcely any cultivation. If the allu- 
vial soil yielded little stone, clay, on the other hand, was every- 
where. Molded into brick and afterwards dried in the sun, the 
clay became adobe, the cheapest building material imaginable. 

In Babylonia Nature seems to have done her utmost to make 
Babylonia an ^^ ^^^^ ^^^ people to gain a living. We can under- 
early center stand, therefore, w^hy from prehistoric times men 
have been attracted to this region, and w^hy it is 
here that we must look for one of the earliest seats of civiliza- 
tion.^ -H 

Egypt may be described as the valley of the Nile. Rising in 
the Nyanza lakes of central Africa, that mighty stream, before 
Upper and entering Egypt, receives the waters of the Blue 
Lower Egypt ^j^g ^ear the modern town of Khartum. From 
this point the course of the river is broken by a series of five 

1 Herodotus, i, 193. 2 See page 8. 

3 It is interesting to note that Hebrew tradition {Genesis, ii, 8-15) places Paradise, 
the garden of God and original home of man, in southern Babylonia. The ancient 
name for this district was Edin (Eden) . 



Babylonia and Egypt 



23 



rocky rapids, misnamed cataracts, which can be shot by boats. 
The cataracts cease near the island of Philae, and Upper Egypt 
begins. This is a strip of fertile territory, about five hundred 
miles in length but averaging only eight miles in width. Not 
far from modern Cairo the hills inclosing the valley fall aAvay, 
the Nile divides into numerous branches, and Lower Egypt, or 



■"WifliiiWiiWP'^ 
""ijiiiiii 



tV-'^.^' yMA: 



imi 







iiiif :.._«"^r^ii*»*t^=2 




.-cC^^pw'i^.i^'^^^^^i^.^t 



The island was originally only a heap of granite bowlders. Retaining walls were built 
around it, and the space within, when filled with rich Nile mud, became beautiful with 
groves of palms and mimosas. As the result of the construction of the Assuan dam, Philse 
and its exquisite temples are now submerged during the winter months, when the reservoir 
is fuU. 



the Delta, begins. The sluggish stream passes through a region 
of mingled swamp and plain, and at length by three principal 
mouths empties its waters into the Mediterranean. 

Egypt owes her existence to the Nile. All Lower Egypt is a 
creation of the river by the gradual accumulation of sediment 
at its mouths. Upper Egypt has been dug out j. ^ ^^^ 
of the desert sand and underlying rock by a process " gift of the 
of erosion centuries long. Once the Nile filled all ^^ 
the space between the hills that line its sides. Now it flows 
through a thick layer of alluvial mud deposited by the yearly 
inundation. 

The Nile begins to rise in June, when the snow melts on the 
Abyssinian mountains. High-water mark, some thirty feet above 



24 The Lands and Peoples of the East 

the ordinary level, is reached in September. The inhabitants 
Annual inun- ^^^^ make haste to cut the confining dikes and 
dationofthe to spread the fertihzing water over their fields. 
Egypt takes on the appearance of a turbid lake, 
dotted here and there with island villages and crossed in every 
direction by highways elevated above the flood. Late in Octo- 
ber the river begins to subside and by December has returned 
to its normal level. As the water recedes, it deposits that 
dressing of fertile vegetable mold which makes the soil of 
Egypt perhaps the richest in the world.^ 

It was by no accident that Eg3^t, like Babylonia, became one 
of the first homes of civilized men. Here, as there, every con- 
Egypt an dition made it easy for people to live and thrive, 
early center Food was cheap, for it was easily produced. The 
peasant needed only to spread his seed broadcast 
over the muddy fields to be sure of an abundant return. The 
warm, dry climate enabled him to get along w4th Uttle shelter 
and clothing. Hence the inhabitants of this favored region 
rapidly increased in number and gathered in populous towns 
and cities. At a time when most of their neighbors were still 
in the darkness of the prehistoric age, the Egyptians had en- 
tered the light of history. 

9. The Babylonians and the Egyptians 

The earhest inhabitants of Babylonia of whom we know any- 
thing were a people called Sumerians. They entered the Baby- 
Inhabitants Ionian plain through the passes of the eastern 
of Babylonia mountains, three or four thousand years before the 
Christian era. Here they formed a number of independent 
states, each with its capital city, its patron god, and its king. 
After them came Semitic tribes from the deserts of northern 
Arabia. The Semites mingled with the Sumerians and adopted 
Sumerian civihzation. 

1 The problem of regulating the Nile inundation so as to distribute the water for 
irrigation when and where it is most needed has been solved by the building of the 
Assuan dam. It Ues across the head of the first cataract for a distance of a mile 
and a quarter, and creates a lake two hundred and forty miles in length. This 
great work was completed in 1912 a.d. by the British officials who now control Egypt. 



The Babylonians and the Egyptians 



25 



Of all the early Babylonian kings the most famous was Ham- 
murabi. Some inscriptions still remain to tell how he freed his 
country from foreign invaders and made his native Babylon the 
capital of the en- „ 

^- 1 ^ rj... Hammurabi, 

tire land, inis king of Baby- 
city became hence- L°i"f ' ^^°^* 

-^ 2000 B.C. 

forth the real cen- 
ter of the Euphrates valley, 
to which, indeed, it gave its 
name. Hammurabi was also an 
able statesman, who sought to 
develop the territories his sword 
had won. He dug great canals 
to distribute the waters of the 
Euphrates and built huge gran- 
aries to store the wheat against 
a time of famine. In Babylon 
he raised splendid temples and 
palaces. For all his kingdom 
he pubHshed a code of laws, the 
oldest in the world. ^ Thus 
Hammurabi, by making Baby- 
lonia so strong and flourishing, 
was able to extend her influence 
in every direction. Her only 
important rival was Egypt. 

The origin of the Egyptians 
is not known with certainty. In physical characteristics they 
resembled the native tribes of northern and inhabitants 
eastern Africa. Their language, however, shows °^ Egypt 
close kinship to the Semitic tongues of western Asia and Arabia. 
It is probable that the Egyptians, like the Babylonians, arose 
from the mingling of several peoples. 

The history of Egypt commences with the union of the two 
kingdoms of Upper and Lower Egypt under Menes. An ancient 
tradition made him the builder of Memphis, near the head of 




Top of Monument containing 
THE Code of Hammurabi 

British Museum, London 

A block of black diorite, nearly 8 feet 
high, on which the code is chiseled in 44 
columns and over 3600 lines. The re- 
lief at the top of the monument shows the 
Babylonian king receiving the laws from 
the sun god, who is seated at the right. 



1 See page 50. 



26 The Lands and Peoples of the East 

the Delta, and the founder of the Egyptian monarchy. Scholars 
Menes, king once doubted these exploits and even regarded 
ab^u/3400 Menes himself as mythical. Recently, however, 
B.C. his tomb has been discovered. In the gray dawn 

of history Menes appears as a real personage, the first of that 



Aegean Sea <^ < 



neveh 




line of kings, or "Pharaohs," who for nearly three thousand 
years ruled over Egypt. 

Several centuries after Menes we reach the age of the kings 
who raised the pyramids. Probably no other rulers have ever 
stamped their memory so indelibly on the pages of history as 



The Babylonians and the Egyptians 



27 



The pyramid 
kings, about 
3000-2500 
B.C. 



the builders of these mighty structures. The most celebrated 
monarch of this hne was the Pharaoh whom the 
Greeks called Cheops. The Great Pyramid near 
Memphis, erected for his tomb, remains a lasting 
witness to his power. 

For a long time after the epoch of the pyramid kings the 
annals of Egypt 

fur- After the 

n i S h pyramid kings 

a record of quiet 
and peaceful prog- 
ress. The old city 
of Memphis grad- 
ually declined in 
importance and 
Thebes in Upper 
Egypt became the 
capital. The vig- 
orous civilization 
growing up in 
Egypt was des- 
tined, however, to 
suffer a sudden eclipse. About 1800 B.C. barbarous tribes from 
western Asia burst into the country, through the isthmus of 
Suez, and settled in the Delta. The Hyksos, as they are 
usually called, extended their sway over all Egypt. At first 
they ruled harshly, plundering the cities and enslaving the in- 
habitants, but in course of time the invaders adopted Egyptian 
culture and their kings reigned like native Pharaohs. The 
Hyksos are said to have introduced the horse and military 
chariot into Egypt. A successful revolt at length expelled 
the intruders and set a new line of Theban monarchs on the 
throne. 

The overthrow of the Hyksos marked a new era in the his- 
tory of Egypt. From a home-loving and peace- The Egyptian 
ful people the Egyptians became a warlike race, Empire 
ambitious for glory. The Pharaohs raised powerful armies and 




Khufu (Cheops), builder of 
the Great Pyramid 



Menephtah, the supposed 
Pharaoh of the Exodus 



Two Famous Pharaohs 



28 



The Lands and Peoples of the East 




Imperial 
splendor of 
Egypt 



by extensive conquests created an Egyptian Empire, reaching 
from the Nile to the Euphrates. 

This period of the imperial greatness of Egj^t is the most 
splendid in its history. An extensive trade with Cyprus, Crete, 

and other Medi- 
terranean islands 
introduced many 
foreign luxuries. The con- 
quered territories in Syria paid 
a heavy tribute of the pre- 
cious metals, merchandise, 
and slaves. The forced labor 
of thousands of war captives 
enabled the Pharaohs to build 
public works in every part of 
their realm. Even the ruins 
of these stupendous structures 
are enough to indicate the 
majesty and power of ancient 
Egypt. 

Of all the conquering Pha- 
Rameses II, ^^^^s none won 
about 1292- more fame than 

1225 B.C. T) TT 1, 

Kameses 11, who 

ruled for nearly seventy years. His campaigns in Syria were 
mainly against the Hittites, a warlike people who had moved 
southward from their home in Asia Minor and sought to estab- 
lish themselves in the Syrian lands. Rameses does not appear 
to have been entirely successful against his foes. We find him 
at length entering into an alhance with "the great king of the 
Hittites," by which their dominion over northern Syria was 
recognized. In the arts of peace Rameses achieved a more 
enduring renown. He erected many statues and temples in 
various parts of Egypt and made Thebes, his capital, the most 
magnificent city of the age. 

Rameses II was the last of the great Pharaohs. After his 
death the empire steadily declined in strength. The Asiatic 



Head of Mummy of Rameses II 

Museum of Gizeh 
The mummy was discovered in 1881 a.d. in 
an underground chamber near the site of 
Thebes. With it were the coffins and bodies 
of more than a score of royal personages. 
Rameses II was over ninety years of age at 
the time of his death. In spite of the some- 
what grotesque disguise of mummification, the 
face of this famous Pharaoh still wears an 
aspect of majesty and pride. 



The Phoenicians and the Hebrews 



29 



possessions fell away, never to be recovered. By iioo B.C. 
Egypt had been restricted to her former boun- Decline of 
daries in the Nile valley. The Persians, in the the Egyptian 
sixth century, brought the country within their p°^®^ 
own vast empire. 



S 





The Great Pyramid 

The pyramid when completed had a height of 481 feet. It is now 451 feet high. Its base 
covers about thirteen acres. Some of the blocks of white limestone used in construction 
weigh fifty tons. The facing of polished stone was gradually removed for building pur- 
poses by the Arabs. On the northern side of the pyramid a narrow entrance, once care- 
fully concealed, opens into tortuous passages which lead to the central vault. Here the 
sarcophagus of the king was placed. This chamber was long since entered and its con- 
tents rifled. 



10. The Phoenicians and the Hebrews 

The Phoenicians were the first Syrian people to assume 
importance. Their country was a narrow stretch of coast, 
about one hundred and twenty miles in length, The Phoeni- 
seldom more than twelve miles in width, between "^^^ 
the Lebanon Mountains and the sea. This tiny land could not 
support a large population. As the Phoenicians increased in 
numbers, they were obliged to betake themselves to the sea. 
The Lebanon cedars furnished soft, white wood for shipbuild- 
ing, and the deeply indented coast offered excellent harbors. 
Thus the Phoenicians became preeminently a race of sailors. 
Their great cities, Sidon and Tyre, established colonies through- 
out the Mediterranean and had an extensive commerce with 
every region of the known world. 



30 The Lands and Peoples of the East 

The Hebrews lived south of Phoenicia in the land of Canaan, 

west of the Jordan River. Their history begins with the emi- 

„, „ , oration of twelve Hebrew tribes (called Israelites) 

The Hebrews ? , * , . • ^ -r 

from northern Arabia to Canaan. In their new 

home the Israelites gave up the life of wandering shepherds and 







% ^A^ 



The Great Sphinx 

This colossal figure, human-headed and lion-bodied, is hewn from the natural rock. The 
body is about 150 feet long, the paws 50 feet, the head 30 feet. The height from the base 
to the top of the head is 70 feet. Except for its head and shoulders, the figure has been 
buried for centuries in the desert sand. The eyes, nose, and beard have been mutilated by 
the Arabs. The face is probably that of one of the pyramid kings. 

became farmers. They learned from the Canaanites to till the 
soil and to dwell in towns and cities. 

The thorough conquest of Canaan proved to be no easy task. 
At first the twelve Israelitish tribes formed only a loose and 
Period of weak confederacy without a common head, "In 
the Judges those days there was no king in Israel; every 
man did what was right in his own eyes." ^ The sole authority 
was that held by valiant chieftains and law-givers, such as 
Samson, Gideon, and Samuel, who served as judges between 
the tribes and often led them in successful attacks upon their 
foes. Among these were the warlike Philistines, who occupied 
the southwestern coast of Canaan. To resist the Philistines 

1 Judges, xvii, 6. 



The Phoenicians and the Hebrews 



31 



with success it was necessary to have a king who could bring 
all the scattered tribes under his firm, well-ordered rule. 

In Saul, ''a young man and a goodly," the warriors of Israel 
found a leader to unite them against their enemies. Reigns of 
His reign was passed in constant struggles with Saul and 
the Philistines. David, who followed him, utterly ^^^ 
destroyed the Phihstine power and by further conquests 




extended the boundaries of the new state. For a capital city 
he selected the ancient fortress of Jerusalem. Here David 
built himself a royal palace and here he fixed the Ark, the sanc- 
tuary of Jehovah. Jerusalem became to the Israehtes their 
dearest possession and the center of their national life. 



32 



The Lands and Peoples of the East 



The reign of Solomon, the son and successor of David, was 
the most splendid period in Hebrew history. His kingdom 
stretched from the Red Sea and the peninsula of Sinai north- 
Rei n of Sol- ^ard to the Lebanon Mountains and the Eu- 
omon, about phrates. With the surrounding peoples Solomon 
95 -9 5 . . ^^^^^ ^^ terms of friendship and alliance. He m.ar- 
ried an Egyptian princess, a daughter of the reigning Pharaoh. 
He joined with Hiram, king of Tyre, in trading expeditions on 




A Phcenician War Galley 

From a slab found at Nineveh in the palace of the Assyrian king, Sennacherib. 
The vessel shown is a bireme with two decks. On the upper deck are soldiers with 
their shields hanging over the side. The oarsmen sit on the lower deck, eight at 
each side. The crab catching the fish is a humorous touch. 

the Red Sea and Indian Ocean. The same Phoenician monarch 
supplied him with the ''cedars of Lebanon," with which he 
erected at Jerusalem a famous temple for the worship of Jeho- 
vah. A great builder, a wise administrator and governor, 
Solomon takes his place as a typical Oriental despot, the most 
powerful monarch of the age. 

But the political greatness of the Hebrews was not destined 

.to endure. The people were not ready to bear the 

the Ten burdens of empire. They objected to the stand- 

qJi^Tf r^^°"* ^^^ army, to the forced labor on public buildings, 

and especially to the heavy taxes. The ten 



The Phoenicians and the Hebrews 



33 



northern tribes seceded shortly after Solomon's death and estab- 
lished the independent kingdom of Israel, with its capital at 
Samaria. The two southern tribes, Judah and Benjamin, 
formed the kingdom of Judea, and remained loyal to the suc- 
cessors of Solomon. 




The two small Hebrew kingdoms could not resist their 
powerful neighbors. About two centuries after Decline of 
the secession of the Ten Tribes, the Assyrians the Hebrew 
overran Israel. Judea was subsequently conquered P°^®^ 
by the Babylonians. Both countries in the end became a 
part of the Persian Empire. 



34 



The Lands and Peoples of the East 



il. The Assyrians 



Assyria, lying east of the Tigris River, was colonized at an 
early date by emigrants from Babylonia. After the Assyrians 
Greatness of f^^^^d themselves from Babylonian control, they 
Assyria, entered upon a series of sweeping conquests. 

Every Asiatic state felt their heavy hand. The 
Assyrian kings created a huge empire stretching from the Cas- 
pian Sea to the Persian Gulf, the 
Mediterranean, and the Nile. For 
the first time in Oriental history 
Mesopotamia and Egypt, with the 
intervening territory, were brought 
under one government. 

This unification of the Orient 
was accomplished only at a fearful 
Character of cost. The records of 
Assyrian rule Assyria are full of ter- 
rible deeds — of towns and cities 
without number given to the 
flames, of the devastation of fer- 
tile fields and orchards, of the 
slaughter of men, women, and 
children, of the enslavement of 
entire nations. Assyrian mon- 
archs, in numerous inscriptions, 
boast of the wreck and ruin they 
brought to many flourishing lands. 

The treatment of conquered peoples by the Assyrian rulers 
is well illustrated by their dealings with the Hebrews. One of 
Sargon II, the mightiest monarchs was an usurper, who 
722-705 B.C. ascended the throne as Sargon IL Shortly after 
his succession he turned his attention to the kingdom of Israel, 
which had revolted. Sargon in punishment took its capital 
city of Samaria (722 B.C.) and led away many thousands of the 
leading citizens into a lifelong captivity in distant Assyria. 




An Assyrian 

From a Nineveh bas-relief, 
original is colored. 



The 





Ancient Oriental Empires 



The Assyrians 



35 



The Ten Tribes mingled with 'the population of that region 
and henceforth disappeared from history. 

Sargon's son, Sennacherib, though not the greatest, is the 
best known of Assyrian kings. His name is famihar from the 
many references to him in Old Testament writings. Sennacherib, 
An inscription by Sennacherib describes an expedi- 705-681 B.C. 
tion against Hezekiah, king of Judea, who was shut up "like 




An Assyrian Relief 

British Museum, London 

The relief represents the siege and capture of Lachish, a city of the Canaanites, by 
Sennacherib's troops. Notice the total absence of perspective in this work. 

a caged bird in his royal city of Jerusalem." Sennacherib, how- 
ever, did not capture the place. His troops were swept away 
by a pestilence. The ancient Hebrew writer conceives it as the 
visitation of a destroying angel: "It came to pass that night 
that the angel of Jehovah w^ent forth, and smote in the camp of 
the Assyrians an hundred fourscore and five thousand; and 
when men arose early in the morning, behold, these were all 
dead bodies." ^ So Sennacherib departed, and returned with a 
shattered army to Nineveh, his capital. 
Although Assyria recovered from this disaster, its empire 

1 2 Kings, xix, 35. See Byron's poem, The Destruction of Sennacherib. 




36 The Lands and Peoples of the East 

rested on unstable foundations. The subject races were attached 
Downfall of ^^ their oppressive masters by no ties save those 
Assyria, 606 of force. When Assyria grew exhausted by its 
^'^' career of conquest, they were quick to strike a 

blow for freedom. By the middle of the seventh century Egypt 

had secured her in- 
dependence, and 
many other provinces 
were ready to revolt. 
Meanwhile, beyond 
the eastern moun- 
tains, the Medes 
were gathering omi- 
nously on the Assyr- 
ian frontier. The 
storm broke when 
the Median monarch, 
in alliance with the 
king of Babylon, 
moved upon Nineveh 
and captured it. The 
city was utterly de- 
stroyed. 

After the conquest 
of the Assyrian Em- 
Partition of pire the 
Assyria victors 




m^w^^^ 



'^ 




The Ishtar Gate, Babylon 

Explorations on the site of Babylon have been conducted 
since 1899 a.d. by the German Oriental Society. Large 
parts of the temple area, as well as sections of the royal 
palaces, have been uncovered. The most important struc- 
ture found is the Ishtar Gate. The towers which flank it 
are adorned with figures of dragons and bulls in brilUantly 
colored glazed tile. 



proceeded to divide 
the spoils. The share 
of Media was Assyria itself, together with the long stretch of 
mountain country extending from the Persian Gulf to Asia 
Minor. Babylonia obtained the western half of the Assyrian 
domains, including the Euphrates valley and Syria. Under its 
famous king, Nebuchadnezzar (604-561 B.C.), Babylonia be- 
came a great power in the Orient. It was Nebuchadnezzar 
who brought the kingdom of Judea to an end. He captured 
Jerusalem in 586 B.C., burned the Temple, and carried away 



The World Empire of Persia 



37 



many Jews into captivity. The day of their deUverance, when 
Babylon itself should bow to a foreign foe, was still far distant. 

12. The World Empire of Persia 

Not much earlier than the break-up of the Assyrian Empire, 
we find a new and vigorous people pressing into western Iran. 
They were the Persians, near kinsmen of the cyrus the 
Medes. Subjects at first of Assyria, and then Great, 
of Media, they regained their independence and 
secured imperial power under a conquering king whom history 




The Tomb of Cyrus the Great 

The mausoleum is built of immense marble blocks, joined together without cement. Its 
total height, including the seven steps, is about thirty-five feet. A solitary pillar near the 
tomb still bears the inscription: " I am Cyrus, the King, the Achaemenian." 

knows as Cyrus the Great. In 553 B.C. Cyrus revolted against 
the Median monarch and three years later captured the royal 
city of Ecbatana. The Medes and Persians formed henceforth 
a united people. 

The conquest of Media was soon followed by a war with 
the Lydians, who had been alUes of the Medes. The throne 
of Lydia, a state in the western part of Asia 
Minor, was at this time held by Croesus, the last 
and most famous of his line. The king grew so 
wealthy from the tribute paid by Lydian subjects 
and from his gold mines that his name has passed into the 
proverb, "rich as Crcesus." He viewed with alarm the rising 



Conquest of 
Lydia by 
Cyrus, 546 
B.C. 



38 



The Lands and Peoples of the East 



power of Cyrus and rashly offered battle to the Persian 
monarch. Defeated in the open field, Croesus shut himself up 
in Sardis, his capital. The city was soon taken, however, and 
with its capture the Lydian kingdom came to an end. 
The downfall of Lydia prepared the way for a Persian attack 
on Babylonia. The conquest of that 
Capture of country proved unexpec- 
Babyion, 539 tcdly easy. In 539 B.C. 
^' ' the great city of Baby- 

lon opened its gates to tlie Persian 
host. Shortly afterwards Cyrus 
issued a decree allowing the Jewish 
exiles there to return to Jerusalem 
and rebuild the Temple, which Nebu- 
chadnezzar had destroyed. With the 
surrender of Babylon the last Semitic 
empire in the East came to an end. 
The Medes and Persians, an Indo- 
European people, henceforth ruled 
over a wider realm than ever before 
had been formed in Oriental lands. 

Cyrus was followed by his son, 
Cambyses, a cruel but stronghanded 
despot. Cambyses determined to 
Cambyses, add Egypt to the Per- 
529-522 B.C. si^^i;^ dominions. His 
land army was supported by a power- 
ful fleet, to which the Phoenicians 
and the Greeks of Cyprus contributed 
ships. A single battle sufficed to 
overthrow the Egyptian power and to 
bring the long rule of the Pharaohs 
to a close.^ 

The reign of Darius, the successor 
of Cambyses, was marked by further extensions of the frontiers. 
An expedition to tlie distant East added to the empire the region 

^ See page zg. 




D-VRius WITH HIS Attend- 
ants 

Bas-relief at Persepolis. The 
monarch's right hand grasps a staff 
or scepter; his left hand, a bunch 
of flowers. His head is surmounted 
by a crown; his body is enveloped 
in the long Median mantle. Above 
the king is a representation of the 
divinity which guarded and guided 
him. In the reixr are two Persian 
nobles, one carr>-ing the royal fan, 
the other the royal parasol. 



The World Empire of Persia 



39 



of the Punjab/ along the upper waters of the Indus. Another 
expedition against the wild Scythian tribes along j^anus the 
the Danube led to conquests in Europe and Great, 
brought the Persian dominions close to those of 
the Greeks. Not without reason could Darius describe himself 
in an inscription which still survives, as "the great king, king 
of kings, king of countries, king of all men." 




Rock Sepulchers of the Persian Kings 

The tombs are those of Darius, Xerxes, and two of their successors. They are 
near Persepolis. * 

It was the work of Darius to provide for his dominions a 
stable government which should preserve what the sword had 
won. The problem was difficult. The empire organization 
was a collection of many peoples widely different of the Persian 
in race, language, customs, and rehgion. Darius ^^^^ 
did not attempt to weld the conquered nations into unity. As 
long as the subjects of Persia paid tribute and furnished troops 
for the royal army, they were allowed to conduct their own 
affairs with little interference from the Great King. 

The entire empire, excluding Persia proper, was divided 
into twenty satrapies, or provinces, each one with its civil 

^ See page 21. 



40 The Lands and Peoples of the East 

governor, or satrap. The satraps carried out the laws and col- 
The satrapal lected the heavy tribute annually levied through- 
system Q^^ ^]^g empire. In most of the provinces there 
were also military governors who commanded the army and 
reported directly to the king. This device of intrusting the 
civil and mihtary functions to separate officials lessened the 
danger of revolts against the Persian authority. As an addi- 
tional precaution Darius provided special agents whose busi- 
ness it was to travel from province to province and investigate 
the conduct of his officials. It became a proverb that "the 
king has many eyes and many ears." 

Darius also established a system of military roads throughout 
the Persian dominions. The roads were provided at frequent 

^ . , intervals with inns, where postmen stood always in 

Persian roads , . -^ 

readmess to take up a letter and carry it to the 

next station. The Royal Road from Susa, the Persian capital, 

to Sardis in Lydia was over fifteen hundred miles long; but 

government couriers, using relays of fresh horses, could cover 

the distance within a week. An old Greek writer declares with 

admiration that " there is nothing mortal more swift than these 

messengers." ^ 

The political history of the East fitly ends with the three 

Persian conquerors, Cyrus, Cambyses, and Darius, who thus 

Union of the . brought into their huge empire every great state 

East under of Oriental antiquity. Medes and Persians, 

Babylonians and Assyrians, Lydians, Syrians, and 

Egyptians — all were at length united under a single dominion. 

In the reign of Darius this united Orient first comes into contact 

with the rising power of the Greek states of Europe. So we 

may leave its history here, resuming our narrative when we 

discuss the momentous conflict between Persia and Greece, 

which was to affect the course, not alone of Persian or Greek, 

but of all European history .^ 

1 Herodotus, viii, q8. 2 See chapter v. 



The World Empire of Persia 41 

studies 

I. On the map facing page 20 see what regions of Asia are fess than 500 feet 
above sea level; less than 3000 feet; less than 9000 feet; less than 15,000 feet; 
over 15,000 feet. 2. On an outline map of the Orient indicate eight important rivers, 
two gulfs, three inland seas, the great plateaus and plains, the principal mountain 
ranges, two important passes, and the various countries and cities mentioned in 
this chapter. 3. On an outline map draw the boundaries of the Persian Empire 
under Darius, showing what parts were conquered by Cyrus, Cambyses, and Darius, 
respectively. 4. For what were the following places noted: Jerusalem; Thebes; 
Tyre; Nineveh; and Babylon? 5. For what were the following persons famous: 
Hammurabi; Rameses II; Solomon; Cyrus; Nebuchadnezzar; and Darius? 
6. Define and illustrate these terms: empire, kingdom, province, tributary state, 
satrapy. 7. Identify these dates: 606 B.C.; 539 B.C.; and 546 B.C. 8. Why was 
India better known in ancient times than China? 9. What modern countries are 
included within the limits of ancient Iran? 10. Why was a canal through the isth- 
mus of Suez less needed in ancient times than to-day? 11. Can you suggest any 
reasons why the sources of the Nile remained unknown until late in the nineteenth 
century? 1 2 . What is the origin of the name Delta applied to such a region as Lower 
Egypt? 13. Comment on the statement: "Egypt as a geographical expression is 
two things — the Desert and the Nile. As a habitable country it is only one thing — 
the Nile." 14. Why did the Greek traveler, Herodotus, call Egypt "the gift of 
the Nile"? 15. Distinguish between Syria and Assyria. 16. What is the exact 
meaning of the words, Hebrew, Israelite, and Jew? Describe some features of 
Assyrian warfare (illustration, page 35). 17. What modern countries are included 
within the limits of the Persian Empire under Darius? 18. Trace on the map 
facing page 38 the course of the Royal Road, noting the countries through which it 
passed. 



A Royal Name in Hieroglyphics 



CHAPTER III 
ORIENTAL CIVILIZATION 1 

13. Social Classes 

Our present knowledge of the Orient has been gained within 
recent times. Less than a century ago no one could read the 
Rediscovery wTitten records of the Egyptians and Babylonians. 
of the Orient 'pj^g decipherment of the Rosetta Stone, w^hich 
contained an inscription in both Greek and hieroglyphics, led 

to the understanding of 
Eg}^tian wTiting. Scholars 
later succeeded in inter- 
preting the Babylonian 
(Rosetta Stone) cuneiform script. Modern 

The cut shows the symbols contained in one of eXCavatioUS in the VallcyS 

the oval rings, or cartouches, for Ptolemaios, the of the Nile and the Eu- 

Greek name of King Ptolemy. Each symbol ^ . ^ • i i 

represents the initial letter of the Egyptian name phratCS have nOW prOVldcd 

for the object pictured. The objects in order are: them with abundant matC- 

a mat, a half-circle, a noose, a lion, a hole, two • ^ r . j • .^ i 

reeds, and a chair-back. The entire hieroglyph ^^^^ ^^^ ^tudy m the shapC 

is read from left to right, as we read words in of books and inscriptions. 

°^ ^ ■ As these are gradually de- 

ciphered, new light is being thrown on all features of ancient 
Oriental civilization. 

The Oriental peoples, when their history opens, were living 
under the monarchical form of government. The king, to his 
The king as subjects, was the earthly representative of the 
an autocrat go^s. Often, indeed, he was himself regarded as 
divine. The belief in the king's divine origin made obedience 
to him a religious obligation for his subjects. Every Oriental 

I Webster, Readings in Ancient History, chapter i, "Three Oriental Peoples as 
Described by Herodotus." 

42 



/ 



v?4 



THE ROSETTA STONE 

British Museum, London 

A block of black basalt, three feet seven inches in height, found in 1799 a.d., near the 
Rosetta mouth of the Nile. 



Social Classes 



43 



monarch was an autocrat. Every Oriental monarchy was a 
despotism. 

The king had many duties. He was judge, commander, and 
high priest, all in one. In time of war, he led his troops and 
faced the dangers of the battle field. During The king's 
intervals of peace, he was occupied with a constant t^^t^es 
round of sacrifices, prayers, and processions, which could not 




An Egyptian Court Scene 

Wall painting, from a tomb at Thebes. Shows a Pharaoh receiving Asiatic envoys bear- 
ing tribute. They are introduced by white-robed Egyptian officials. The Asiatics may be 
distinguished by their gay clothes and black, sharp-pointed beards. 

be neglected without exciting the anger of the gods. To his 
courtiers he gave frequent audience, hearing complaints, set- 
tling disputes, and issuing commands. A conscientious mon- 
arch, such as Hammurabi, who describes himself as "a real 
father to his people," must have been a very busy man. 

Besides the monarch and the royal family there was generally 
in Oriental countries an upper class of landowners. In Egypt 
the Pharaoh was regarded as sole owner of the land. Nobles and 
Some of it he worked through his slaves, but the P^^sts 
larger part he granted to his favorites, as hereditary estates. 
Such persons may be called the nobles. The different priest- 
hoods also had much land, the revenues from which kept up 
the temples where they ministered. In Babylonia, likewise, 
we find a priesthood and nobility supported by the income 
from landed property. 

The middle class included professional men, shopkeepers 



44 Oriental Civilization 

independent farmers, and skilled craftsmen. Though regarded 
The middle as inferiors, still they had a chance to rise in the 
^^^^^ world. If they became rich, they might hope to 

enter the upper class as priests or government officials. 

No such hopes encouraged the day laborer in the fields or 
shops. His lot was bitter poverty and a life of unending toil. 
Workmen If he was an unskilled workman, his wages were 
and peasants Q^iy enough to keep him and his family. He 
toiled under overseers who carried sticks and used them freely. 
*'Man has a back," says an Egyptian proverb, ''and only obeys 
when it is beaten." If the laborer was a peasant, he could be 
sure that the nobles from whom he rented the land and the tax 
collectors of the king would leave him scarcely more than a 
bare living. 

At the very bottom of the social ladder were the slaves. 
Every ancient people possessed them. At first they were 
prisoners of war, who, instead of being slaughtered, 
were made to labor for their masters. At a later 
period people unable to pay their debts often became slaves. 
The treatment of slaves depended on the character of the 
master. A cruel and overbearing owner might make life a 
burden for his bondmen. Escape was rarely possible. Slaves 
were branded like cattle to prevent their running away. Ham- 
murabi's code ^ imposed the death penalty on anybody who 
aided or concealed the fugitives. There was plenty of work for 
the slaves to perform — repairing dikes, digging irrigation canals, 
and erecting vast palaces and temples. The servile class in 
Eg3^t was not as numerous as in Babylonia, and slavery itself 
seems to have assumed there a somewhat milder form. 

14. Economic Conditions 

Such fruitful, well-watered valleys as those of the Nile and 

the Euphrates encouraged agricultural life. Farming was the 

. chief occupation. Working people, whether slaves 

or freemen, were generally cultivators of the soil. 

All the methods of agriculture are pictured for us on the monu- 

1 See page 25. 



Economic Conditions 



45 



ments. We mark the peasant as he breaks up the earth with a 
hoe or plows a shallow furrow with a sharp-pointed stick. We 
see the sheep being driven across sown fields to trample the seed 
into the moist soil. We watch the patient laborers as with hand 
sickles they gather in the harvest and then with heavy flails 
separate the chaff from the grain. Although their methods were 
very clumsy, ancient farmers raised immense crops of wheat 




Plowing and Sowing in Ancient Egypt 

and barley. The soil of Egypt and Babylonia not only sup- 
ported a dense population, but also suppHed food for neighboring 
peoples. These two lands were the granaries of the East. 

Many industries of to-day were known in ancient Egypt and 
Babylonia. There were blacksmiths, carpenters, stonecutters, 
workers in ivory, silver, and gold, weavers, potters, Manu- 
and glass blowers. The creations of these ancient facturmg 
craftsmen often exhibit remarkable skill. Egyptian linens were 
so wonderfully fine and transparent as to merit the name of 
"woven air." Babylonian tapestries, carpets, and rugs enjoyed 
a high reputation for beauty of design and color. Egyptian 
glass with its waving lines of different hues was much prized. 
Precious stones were made into beads, necklaces, charms, and 
seals. The precious metals were employed for a great variety 
of ornaments. Egyptian paintings show the goldsmiths at 
work with blowpipe and forceps, fashioning bracelets, rings, and 
diadems, inlaying objects of stone and wood, or covering their 
surfaces with fine gold leaf. The manufacture of tiles and 
glazed pottery was everywhere carried on. Babylonia is be- 
lieved to be the original home of porcelain. Enameled bricks 
found there are unsurpassed by the best products of the present 
day. 



46 



Oriental Civilization 



The development of the arts and crafts brought a new indus- 
trial class into existence. There was now need of merchants 
and shopkeepers to collect manufactured products 
where they could be readily bought and sold. The 
cities of Babylonia, in particular, became thriving markets. 




Transport of an Assyrian Colossus 

A slab from a gallery of Sennacherib's palace at Nineveh. The immense block is 
being pulled forward by slaves, who work under the lash. 

Partnerships between tradesmen were numerous. We even 
hear of commercial companies. Business life in ancient Baby- 
lonia wore, indeed, quite a modern look. 

MetaUic money first circulated in the form of rings and bars. 
The Egyptians had small pieces of gold — ''cow gold" — each 
of which was simply the value of a full-grown cow.^ 
It was necessary to weigh the metal whenever a 
purchase took place. A common picture on the Egyptian 
monuments is that of the weigher with his balance and scales. 
Then the practice arose of stamping each piece of money with 
its true value and weight. The next step was coinage proper, 

1 See page 6. 



Money 



Commerce and Trade Routes 



47 



Coinage 



where the government guarantees, not only the weight, but 
also the genuineness of the metal. 

The honor of the invention of coinage is generally given to 
the Lydians, whose country was well supphed with the precious 
metals. As early as 
the eighth century B.C. 
the Lydian monarchs began to 
strike coins of electrum, a natural 
alloy of gold and silver. The fa- 
mous Croesus,^ whose name is still 
a synonym for riches, was the first 
to issue coins of pure gold and sil- 
ver. The Greek neighbors of Lydia 
quickly adopted the art of coinage 
and so introduced it into Europe.^ 

The use of money as a medium of 
exchange led naturally to a system 
of banking. In Babylonia, for instance, the bankers formed- 
an important and influential class. One great 
banking house, estabhshed at Babylon before 
the age of Sennacherib, carried on operations for several cen- 
turies. Hundreds of legal documents belonging to this firm 
have been discovered in the huge earthenware jars which served 
as safes. The Babylonian temples also received money on de- 
posit and loaned it out again, as do our modern banks. Knowl- 
edge of the principles of banking passed from Babylonia to 
Greece and thence to ancient Italy and Rome. 




Egyptian weighing 
Gold " 



"Cow 



15. Commerce and Trade Routes 

The use of the precious metals as money greatly aided the ex- 
change of commodities between different countries. The cities 
of the Tigris-Euphrates valley were admirably situ- Asiatic com- 
ated for commerce, both by sea and land. They fierce 
enjoyed a central position between eastern and western Asia. 
The shortest way by water from India skirted the southern 

1 See page 37. 

* For illustrations of Oriental coins see the plate facing page 134. 



48 



Oriental Civilization 



coast of Iran and, passing up the Persian Gulf, gained the 
valley of the two great rivers. Even more important were the 
overland roads from China and India which met at Babylon 
and Nineveh. Along these routes traveled long lines of caravans 
laden with the products of the distant East — gold and ivory, 
jewels and silks, tapestries, spices, and fine woods. Still other 




ANCIENT 
TRADE ROUTES 



rv^ 






... ^ *' 'Vv ■ < 




avenues of commerce radiated to the west and entered Asia 
Minor, Syria, and Egypt. Many of these trade routes are in 
use even to-day. 

While the inhabitants of Babylonia and Assyria were able to 
control the caravan routes of Asia, it was reserved for a Syrian 
Commerce people, the Phoenicians, to become the pioneers of 
with Europe commerce with Europe. As early as 1500 B.C. 
the rich copper mines of Cyprus attracted Phoenician colonists 
to this island.^ From Cyprus these bold mariners and keen 
business men passed to Crete, thence along the shores of Asia 
Minor to the Greek mainland, and possibly to the Black Sea. 
Some centuries later the Phoenicians w^re driven from these 
regions by the rising power of the Greek states. Then they 

1 See page 4. 



Commerce and Trade Routes 49 

sailed farther westward and established their trading posts in 
Sicily, Africa, and Spain. At length they passed through the 
strait of Gibraltar into the Atlantic and visited the shores of 
western Europe and Africa. 

The Phoenicians obtained a great variety of products from 
their widely scattered settlements. The mines of Spain yielded 
tin, lead, and silver. The tin was especially Phoenician 
valuable because of its use in the manufacture imports and 
of bronze.^ From Africa came ivory, ostrich ®^^°' ^ 
feathers, and gold; from Arabia, incense, perfumes, and costly 
spices. The Phoenicians found a ready sale for these com- 
modities throughout the East. Still other products were 
brought directly to Phoenicia to provide the raw materials 
for her flourishing manufactures. The fine carpets and glass- 
ware, the artistic works in silver and bronze, and the beau- 
tiful purple cloths ^ produced by Phoenician factories were 
exported to every region of the known world. 

The Phoenicians were the boldest sailors of antiquity. Some 
of their long voyages are still on record. We learn from the 
Bible that they made cruises on the Red Sea and Phoenician 
Indian Ocean and brought the gold of Ophir — voyages of 
"four hundred and twenty talents " — to Solomon.^ exploration 
There is even a story of certain Phoenicians who, by direction 
of an Egyptian king, explored the eastern coast of Africa, 
rounded the Cape of Good Hope, and after three years' absence 
returned to Egypt through the strait of Gibraltar. A much 
more probable narrative is that of the voyage of Hanno, a 
Carthaginian admiral. We still possess a Greek translation of 
his interesting log book. It describes an expedition made 
about 500 B.C. along the western coast of Africa. The explorers 
seem to have sailed as far as the country now called Sierra 
Leone. Nearly two thousand years elapsed before a similar 
voyage along the African coast was undertaken. 

^ See page 5. 

^ "Tyrian purple" was a dye secured from a species of shellfish found along the 
Phoenician coast and in Greek waters. 

' See I Kings, ix, 26-28. The site of Ophir is not known, though probably it 
was in southern Arabia. 



50 Oriental Civilization 

Wherever the Phoenicians journeyed, they established settle- 
ments. Most of these were merely trading posts which con- 
Phcenician tained the warehouses for the storage of their 
settlements goods. Here the shy natives came to barter 
their raw materials for the finished products — cloths, tools, 
weapons, wine, and oil — which the strangers from the East 
had brought w^ith them. Phoenician settlements sometimes 
grew to be large and flourishing cities. The colony of Gades 
in southern Spain, mentioned in the Old Testament as Tar- 
shish,^ survives to this day as Cadiz. The city of Carthage, 
founded in North Africa by colonists from Tyre, became the 
commercial mistress of the Mediterranean. Carthaginian 
history has many points of contact with that of the Greeks and 
Romans. 

16. Law and Morality 

It is clear that societies so highly organized as Phoenicia, 
Egypt, and Babylonia must have been held together by the 
Babylonian firm bonds of law. The ancient Babylonians, 
contracts especially, were a legal-minded people. When a 

man sold his wheat, bought a slave, married a wdfe, or made a 
will, the transaction was duly noted on a contract tablet, 
which was then filed away in the public archives. Instead of 
writing his name, a Babylonian stamped his sea] on the wet 
clay of the tablet. Every man who owned property had to have 
a seal. 

The earliest laws were, of course, unwritten. They were no 
more than the long-estabhshed customs of the community. As 
Code of civihzation advanced, the usages that generally 

Hammurabi prevailed were written out and made into legal 
codes. A recent discovery has given to us the almost complete 
text of the laws which Hammurabi, the Babylonian king, 
ordered to be engraved on stone monuments and set up in all 
the chief cities of his realm.^ 

The code of Hammurabi shows, in general, a high sense of 

1 See Ezekiel, xxvii, 12, 25. 

2 A monument containing the code of Hammurabi was found on the site of Susa 
in 1901-1902 A.D. See the illustration, page 25. 



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Law and Morality 



51 



justice. A man who tries to bribe a witness or a judge is to be 
severely punished. A farmer who is careless with g^^jject mat- 
his dikes and allows the water to run through ter of Ham- 
and flood his neighbor's land must restore the ^^^^ 1 s co e 
value of the grain he has damaged. The owner of a vicious ox 
which has gored a man r^ 
must pay a heavy fine, ' 
provided he knew the 
disposition of the ani- 
mal and had not 
blunted its horns. A 
builder who puts up a 
shaky house which 
afterwards collapses 
and kills the tenant is 
himself to be put to 
death. On the other 
hand, the code has some 
rude features. Punish- 
ments were severe. For 
injuries to the body 
there was the simple 
rule of retaliation — an 
eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, a limb for a limb. A son 
who had struck his father was to have his hands cut off. The 
nature of the punishment depended, moreover, on the rank of 
the aggrieved party. A person who had caused the loss of a 
''gentleman's" eye was to have his own plucked out; but if 
the injury was done to a poor man, the culprit had only to 
pay a fine. 

Hammurabi's laws thus present a vivid picture of Oriental 
society two thousand years before Christ. They always re- 
mained the basis of the Babylonian and Assyrian jniportance 
legal system. They were destined, also, to exert of Hammu- 
a considerable influence upon Hebrew legislation. 
Centuries after Hammurabi the enactments of the old Baby- 
lonian king were reproduced in some of the famiHar regulations 







^_ l-t" 



Xj«uU— I 



Babylonian Contract Tablet 

The actual tablet is on the right; on the left is a 
hollow clay case or envelope. 



52 Oriental Civilization 

of the laws of Moses. In this way they became the heritage 
of the Hebrews and, through them, of our modern world. 

The laws which we find in the earlier books of the Bible were 
ascribed by the Hebrews to Moses. These laws covered a 
The Mosaic wide range of topics. They fixed all religious 
code ceremonies, required the observance every seventh 

day of the Sabbath, dealt with marriage and the family, stated 
the penalties for wrongdoing, gave elaborate rules for sacrifices, 
and even indicated what foods must be avoided as ''unclean." 
No other ancient people possessed so elaborate a code. The 
Jews throughout the world obey, to this day, its precepts. 
And modern Christendom still recites the Ten Commandments, 
the noblest summary of the rules of right living that has come 
down to us from the ancient world. 

17. Religion 

Oriental ideas of religion, even more than of law and morality, 
were the gradual outgrowth of beliefs held by the Asiatic peoples 
Nature wor- in prehistoric times. Everywhere nature worship 
ship prevailed. The vault of heaven, earth and ocean, 

sun, moon, and stars were all regarded either as themselves 
divine or as the abode of divinities. The sun was an object of 
especial adoration. We find a sun god, under different names, 
in every Oriental country. 

Another inheritance from prehistoric times was the behef in 
evil spirits. In Babylonia and Assyria this superstition became 
Babylonian ^ prominent feature of the popular religion. Men 
belief in evil supposed themselves to be constantly surrounded 
spirits ^^ ^ j^^g^ ^£ demons which caused insanity, sick- 

ness, disease, and death — all the ills of life. People lived in 
constant fear of offending these malignant beings. 

To cope with evil spirits the Babylonian used magic. He put 

up a small image of a protecting god at the entrance to his 

house and wore charms upon his person. If he 

^^'^ felt ill, he went to a priest, who recited a long 

incantation supposed to drive out the "devil" afflicting the 
patient. The reputation of the Babylonian priests was so wide- 



Religion 



53 





spread that in time the name "Chaldean" ^ came to mean one 
who is a magician. Some of their magical rites were borrowed 
by the Jews, and later by the Romans, from whom they entered 
Christian Europe. 
Another Babylonian 
practice which spread 
westward was that of 
divination, particu- 
larly by inspecting the 
entrails of animals 
slain in sacrifice. This 

was a very common ^^ Egyptian Scarab 

method of divination 
among the Greeks and 
Romans.^ 

Astrology received 
much attention. It was beheved that the five planets, comets, 
and eclipses of the sun and moon exerted an in- 
fluence for good or evil on the life of man. Baby 
Ionian astrology hkewise extended to western lands and became 
popular among the Greeks and Romans. Some of it survives 
to the present time. When we name the days Saturday, 
Sunday, and Monday, we are unconscious astrologers, for in 
old belief the first day belonged to the planet Saturn, the 
second to the sun, and the third to the moon.^ Superstitious 
people who try to read their fate in the stars are really prac- 
ticing an art of Babylonian origin. 

Less influential in later times was the animal worship of the 
Egyptians. This, too, formed a heritage from the prehistoric 
past. Many common animals of Egypt — the cat, Egyptian ani- 
the hawk, the jackal, the bull, the ram, the croco- ^^^ worship 
dile — were highly reverenced. Some received worship be- 
cause deities were supposed to dwell in them. The larger 



The beetle, as a symbol of birth and resurrection, and 
hence of immortality, enjoyed much reverence in ancient 
Egypt. A scarab, or image of the beetle, was often 
worn as a charm and was placed in the mummy as an 
artificial heart. 



Astrology 



1 Chaldea was another name for Babylonia. 2 ggg ^^g^ j^g^ 

^ The names of four other week days come from the names of old Teutonic deities. 

Tuesday is the day of Tyr, Wednesday of Woden (Odin), Thursday of Thunor 

(Thor), and Friday of the goddess Frigga. See page 394. 



54 



Oriental Civilization 




number, however, were not worshiped for themselves, but as 

symbols of different gods. 

In the midst of such an assemblage of nature deities, spirits, 
and sacred animals, it was remark- 
Monotheism able that the belief in 
in Persia q^q gQ^ should ever 

have arisen. The Medes and Per- 
sians accepted the teachings of 
Zoroaster, a great prophet who lived 
perhaps as early as looo B.C. Ac- 
cording to Zoroaster, Ahuramazda, 
the heaven-deity, is the maker and 
upholder of the universe. He is a 
god of hght and order, of truth and 
purity. Against him stands Ahri- 
man, the personification of darkness 
and evil. Ahuramazda in the end 
w^ill overcome Ahriman and will 
reign supreme in a righteous world. 
Zoroastrianism was the only mono- 
theistic religion developed by an 
Indo-European people.^ 
The Hebrews, alone among the Semitic peoples of antiquity, 
were to develop the worship of their god, Jehovah, into a lasting 
Hebrew mon- monotheism. This was a long and gradual proc- 
otheism ^gg^ Jehovah was at first regarded as the pecu- 

liar divinity of the Hebrews. His worshipers did not deny 
the existence of the gods of other nations. From the eighth 
century onward this narrow conception of Jehovah was trans- 
formed by the labors of the Hebrew prophets. They taught 
that Jehovah was the creator and ruler of the world and the 
loving father of all mankind. On Hebrew monotheism two 

1 Zoroastrians are still to be found in the East. In Persia, now a Mohammedan 
country, there is a little band of devoted followers of Zoroaster, who keep up to this 
day the tenets of their ancient faith. In India the Parsees of Bombay are the 
descendants of those Persians who fled from Persia at the time of the Mo- 
hammedan conquest (page 376), rather than surrender their cherished beliefs 
and embrace a new religion. 



Amenhotep IV 

A striking likeness of an Egyptian 
king (reigned about 13 75-1358 B.C.) 
who endeavored to introduce mono- 
theism in Egypt by abolishing the 
worship of all gods except the sun 
god. This religious revolution ended 
in failure, for after the king's death 
the old deities were restored to honor. 



Religion 



55 



world religions have been founded — Mohammedanism and 
Christianity.. 

We do not find among the early Hebrews or any other Oriental 
people very clear ideas about the life after death. The Egyp- 
tians long beheved Egyptian 
that the soul of the ideas of the 
J J • J J • future life 

dead man resided m 

or near the tomb, closely asso- 
ciated with the body. This notion 
seems to have first led to the 
practice of embalming the corpse, 
so that it might never suffer de- 
cay. If the body was not pre- 
served, the soul might die, or it 
might become a wandering ghost, 
restless and dangerous to the liv- 
ing. Later Egyptian thought re- 
garded the future state as a place 
of rewards and punishments. 
One of the chapters of the work 
called the Book of the Dead de- 
scribes the judgment of the soul 
in the spirit world. If a man in 
the earthly life had not murdered, 
stolen, coveted the property of others, blasphemed the gods, 
borne false witness, ill treated his parents, or committed certain 
other wrongs, his soul would enjoy a blissful immortality. 

Some Oriental peoples kept the primitive belief that after 
death all men, good and bad alike, suffered the same fate. The 

Babylonians supposed that the souls of the de- „ , , . 

, , , , . . , Babylonian 

parted passed a cheerless existence m a gloomy and Hebrew 

underworld. The early Hebrew idea of Sheol, ideas of the 

future life 
"the land of darkness and the shadow of death," ^ 

was very similar. Such thoughts of the future hfe left noth- 
ing for either fear or hope. In later times, however, the 
Hebrews came to believe in the resurrection of the dead 




Mummy and Cover of 
Coffin 

U. S. National Museum, Washington. 



1 Joh, X, 21. 



S6 



Oriental Civilization 



and the last judgment, conceptions afterwards adopted by 
Christianity. 

18. Literature and Art 

Religion inspired the largest part of ancient literature. Each 
Oriental people possessed sacred writings. The Egyptian Book 
The Egyptian ^/ ^^^^ Dead was already venerable in 3000 B.C. 
It was a collection of hymns, prayers, and magical 
phrases to be recited by the soul on its journey 
beyond the grave and in the spirit world. A chapter from this 
w^ork usually covered the inner side of the mummy case. 

\m\m\]mnnmmmwwm]nnmmm\\\mmnm\»mw\mmm\M\wmn^ 



Book of the 
Dead 




iniiiuiiuiiMiuiuiuiuuiMuauuuilili|lliUIUIIIIIIIIiUliil<IUII^"<»lll'l'U'<llllllllillllllll<UIUI«liuii(illlllUllllllt|l^^^ 



!iii(iiimiimiKimiiiHWBtoHuii(«u«uijui(ii(iu/ti(iiniiii 



The Judgment of the Dead 

From a papyrus containing the Book of the Dead. The illustration shows a man 
and his wife (at the left)* entering the hall in the spirit world, where sits the god of 
the dead with forty-two jurors (seen above) as his assistants. The heart of the man, 
symbolized by a jar, is being weighed in balances by a jackal-headed god against a 
feather, the symbol of truth. The monster in the right-hand corner stands ready to 
devour the soul, if the heart is found lighter than the feather. 



Much more interesting are the two Babylonian epics, frag- 
ments of which were foundx)n clay tablets in a royal library 
The Babylo- at Nineveh, 'die epic of the Creation tells how 
nian epics ^j^g g^^^ MarddK. overcame a terrible dragon, the 
symbol of primeval chaos, and thus estabhshed order in the 
universe. Then with half the body of the dead dragon he made 
a covering for the heavens and set therein the stars. Next he 
caused the new moon to shine and made it the ruler of the night. 
His last work was the creation of man, in order that the service 
and worship of the gods might be established forever. The 



Literature and Art 



57 



second epic contains an account of a flood, sent by the gods to 
punish sinful 
men. The rain 
fell for sLx days 
and nights and 
covered the entire 
earth. All men 
were drowned ex- 
cept the Baby- 
lonian Noah, his 
family, and his 
relatives, who 
safely rode the 
waters in an ark. 
This ancient nar- 




'JiuiMiA^"' 



The Deluge Tablet 

British Museum, London 
Contains the narrative of the flood as pieced together and 
rative so Closelv published by George Smith in 1872 a.d. There are sixteen 
, , , fragments in the restoration. 

resembles the 

Bible story in Genesis that we must trace them both to a com- 
mon source. 

All these writings are so ancient that their very authors are 




An Egyptian Temple (Restored) 

The building extended along the Nile for nearly eight hundred feet. A double line of 
sphinxes led to the only entrance, in front of which were two obelisks and four colossal 
statues of Rameses II. Behind the first gateway, or pylon, came an open court surrounded 
by a portico upheld by pillars. The second and third pylons were connected by a covered 
passage leading into another open court. Lower rooms at the rear of the temple contained 
the sanctuary of the god, which only the king and priests could enter. 



58 



Oriental Civilization 



The Hebrew 
Bible 



forgotten. The interest they excite is historical rather than 
Hterary. From Oriental antiquity only one great 
work has reached us that still has power to move 
the hearts of men — the Hebrew Bible. 

Architecture, in Egypt, was the leading art. The Egyptians 
were the first people who learned to raise 
Egyptian buildings with vast halls 

architecture supported by ponderous col- 
umns. Their wealth and skill, however, 
wxre not lavished in the erection of fine 
private mansions or splendid public 
buildings. The characteristic works, of 
Egyptian architecture are the tombs of 
the kings and the temples of the gods. 
The picture of the great structure at 
Thebes, which Rameses II completed,^ 
will give some idea of an Egyptian tem- 
ple with its gateways, open courts, ob- 
elisks, and statues. 

The architecture of Babylonia and 
Assyria was totally unlike that of Egypt, 
Architecture because brick, and not stone, 
in Babylonia formed the chief building 
ssyria jnaterial. In Babylonia the 
temple was a solid, square tower, built on 
a broad platform. It consisted usually 
of seven stages, which arose one above the 
other to the top, where the shrine of the 
deity was placed. The different stages were connected by an 
inclined ascent. The four sides of the tem^ple faced the cardi- 
nal points, and the several stages were dedicated to the sun, 
moon, and five planets. In Assyria the characteristic building 
was the palace. But the sun-dried bricks, of which both tem- 
ples and palaces were composed, lacked the durability of stone 
and have long since dissolved into shapeless mounds. 

The surviving examples of Egyptian sculpture consist of 

1 See page 28. 




An Egyptian Wooden 
Statue 

Museum of Gizeh 
Found in a tomb near 
Memphis. The statue, 
which belongs to the age of 
the pyramid kings, represents 
a bustling, active, middle- 
class ofScial. 



Literature and Art 



59 



bas-reliefs and figures in the round, carved from limestone and 
granite or cast in bronze. Many of the statues Egyptian 
appear to our eyes very stiff and ungraceful. The sculpture 
sculptor never learned how to pose his figures easily or how to 
arrange them in an artistic group. In spite of these defects 
some Egyptian statues are wonderfully lifeUke.^ 



JL'^' -^ ^ 




^J^ 








An Assyrian Palace (Restored) 

The royal residence of Sargon II near Nineveh was placed upon a high platform of 
brick masonry, the top of which was gained by stairs and an inclined roadway. The 
palace consisted of a series of one-storied rectangular halls and long corridors surround- 
ing inner courts. They were provided with imposing entrances, flanked by colossal 
human-headed bulls, representing guardian spirits. The entire building covered more 
than twenty-three acres and contained two hundred apartments. In the rear is seen 
a temple-tower. 

Few examples have reached us of Babylonian and Assyrian 
sculpture in the round. As in Egypt, the figures seem rigid and 
out of proportion. The Assyrian bas-rehefs show sculpture in 
a higher development of the artistic sense, espe- Babylonia 
cially in the rendering of animals. The sculptures ^^ ^^yr'i^ 
that deal with the exploits of the kings in war and hunting often 
tell their story in so graphic a way as to make up for the absence 
of written records. 

Painting in the ancient East did not reach the dignity of an 

1 See the illustrations, pages 27, 54, 58, 63. 



6o 



Oriental Civilization 



independent art. It was employed solely for decorative pur- 
poses. Bas-reliefs and wall surfaces were often brightly 

Oriental colored. 

^c-:.:;:;;;::;;;f^^^^ ^^'''^'''^ The ar- 

^' "' '"^ tist had no knowledge 

of perspective and 
drew all his figures in 
profile, without any 
distinction of light 
and shade. Indeed, 
Oriental painting, as 
well as Oriental sculp- 
ture, made small pre- 
tense to the beautiful. 
Beauty was born into 
the world with the art 
of the Greeks. 

19. Science and 
Education 

Conspicuous ad- 
vance took place in 
the exact sciences. The leading operations of arithmetic were 
Arithmetic known. A Babylonian tablet gives a table of 
and geometry squares and cubes correctly calculated from i to 60. 
The number 12 was the basis of all reckonings. The division 
of the circle into degrees, minutes, and seconds (360°, 60', 60") 
was an invention of the Babylonians which illustrates this duo- 
decimal system. A start was made in geometry. One of the 
oldest of Egyptian books contains a dozen geometrical prob- 
lems. This knowledge was afterwards developed into a true 
science by the Greeks. 

In both Egypt and Babylonia the cloudless skies and still, 

warm nights early led to astronomical research. 

At a remote period, perhaps before 4000 B.C., the 
Egyptians framed a solar calendar,^ consisting of twelve 

1 See page 13. 




An Assyrian Winged Human-headed Bull 



Astronomy 



Science and Education 



6i 



months, each thirty days in length, with five extra days at the 
end of the year. This calendar was taken over by the Romans,^ 
who added the system of leap years. The Babylonians made 
noteworthy progress in some branches of astronomy. They 
were able to trace the course of the sun through the twelve con- 
stellations of the zodiac and to distinguish five of the planets 
from the fixed stars. The successful prediction of eclipses 



mvy 'i '('" /<r' 



p/./>fl|.;^^"" 




An Assyrian Hunting Scene 

British Museum, London 
A bas-relief from a slab found at Nineveh. 

formed another Babylonian achievement. Such astronomical 
discoveries must have required much patient and accurate 
observation. 

Geographical ideas for a long time were very crude. An 
ancient map, scratched on clay, indicates that about eight 
centuries before Christ the Babylonians had 
gained some knowledge, not only of their own 
land, but even of regions beyond the Mediterranean. The 
chief increase in man's knowledge of the world in ancient times 
was due to the Phoenicians.^ 

The skill of Oriental peoples as mechanics and engineers is 
proved by their success as builders. The great Practical 
pyramids exactly face the points of the compass, sciences 
The principle of the round arch was known in Babylonia 



Geography 



^ See page i86, note 2. 



* See page 



62 



Oriental Civilization 



at a remote period. The transportation of colossal stone 
monuments exhibits a knowledge of the lever, pulley, and in- 
cHned plane.^ Babylonian inventions were the sundial and the 

water clock, the one 
to register the passage 
of the hours by day, 
the other by night. 
The Egyptians and 
Babylonians also 
made some progress 
in the practice of 
medicine. 

The schools, in both 
Egypt and Babylonia, 
The temple were at- 
schooi t ached 

to the temples and 
were conducted by 
the priests. Writing 
was the chief subject 
of instruction. It 
took many years of 
patient study to 
master the cuneiform 
symbols or the even 
more difficult hiero- 
glyphics. "He who 
the 




A Babylonian Map of the World 



A tablet of dark brown clay, much injured, dating from 
the 8th or 7th century B.C. The two large concentric cir- 
cles indicate the ocean, or, as it is called in the cuneiform 

writing between the circles, the " Briny Flood." Beyond t^qiiM eXCcl in 
the ocean are seven successive projections of land, repre- 
sented by triangles. Perhaps they refer to the countries SChool of the SCribcS," 



existing beyond the Black Sea and the Red Sea. The 



ran an ancient 



two parallel lines within the inner circle represent the 

Euphrates. The little rings stand for the Babylonian maxim, "mUSt rlse 

cities in this region. ^-^j^ ^^le dawn.'' 

Writing was learned by imitating the examples supplied in 
copy-books. Some of the model letters studied by Egyptian 
boys of the twentieth century B.C. have come down to us. 
Reading, too, was an art not easy to learn. Dictionaries and 

1 See the illustration, page 46. 



Science and Education 



63 




An Egyptian Scribe 

Louvre, Paris 



grammars were written to aid the beginner. A little instruc- 
tion was also provided in counting and calculating. 

Having learned to read and write, the pupil was ready to 
enter on the coveted career of a scribe. In a community where 

nearly every one ^, 

-'.„. •' , The scribes 

was illiterate, the 

scribes naturally held an honor- 
able place. They conducted the 
correspondence of the time. 
When a man wished to send a 
letter, he had a scribe write it, 
signing it himself by affixing his 
seal. When he received a letter, 
he usually employed a scribe to 
read it to him. The scribes 
were also kept busy copying 
books on the papyrus paper or 
clay tablets which served as writing materials. 

Every large city of Babylonia possessed a collection of books. 
Several of the larger Hbraries have been discovered. At 
Nippur, in Babylonia, thirty thousand clay tablets The temple 
were found. Another great collection of books ^i^^ary 
was unearthed in a royal palace at Nineveh. This Assyrian 
library seems to have been open for the general use of the 
king's subjects. The Egyptians also had their libraries, 
usually as adjuncts to the temples, and hence under priestly 
control. 

Learning and education were so closely limited to a few in- 
dividuals that the mass of the people were sunk in deepest 
ignorance. Men could not pursue knowledge for Widespread 
themselves, but had to accept everything on author- popular igno- 
ity. Hence the inhabitants of Oriental lands ^^^^^ 
remained a conservative folk, slow to abandon their time- 
honored beliefs and very unwilling to adopt a new custom even 
when clearly better than the old. This absence of popular 
education, more than anything else, made Oriental civilization 
unprogressive. 



64 



Oriental Civilization 




Excavations at Nippur 

Nippur was the ancient " Calneh in the land of Shinar " (Genesis, x, lo). Excavations 
here were conducted by the University of Pennsylvania during 1889-1900 a.d. The city 
contained an imposing temple, a library, a school, and even a little museum of antiquities. 



Studies 

I. What was the origin of the "divine right" of kings? 2. Explain what is 
meant by despotism; by autocracy. 3. What European state comes nearest to being 
a pure despotism? What European monarch styles himself as an autocrat? 4. 
What do the illustrations on pages 38, 43 tell about the pomp of Oriental kings? 
5. Why did the existence of numerous slaves in Egypt and Babylonia tend to keep 
low the wages of free workmen? Why is it true that civilization may be said to 
have begun "with the cracking of the slave whip"? 6. What Ught is thrown on 
the beginnings of money in ancient Egypt by the illustration on page 47? 7. 
Name some objects which, in place of the metals, are used by primitive peoples as 
money. 8. Interest in Babylonia was usually at the rate of 20% a year.' Why is 
it so much lower in modern countries? 9. On the map, page 48, indicate the trade 
routes between eastern and western Asia which met in Mesopotamia. 10. The 
Phoenicians have been called "the EngUsh of antiquity." Can you give any reason 
for this characterization? 1 1 . Why should the Phoenicians have been called the "co- 
lossal peddlers" of the ancient world? 12. What books of the Bible contain the laws 
of Israel? 13. What reasons can you suggest for the universal worship of the sun? 
14. Define polytheism and monotheism, giving examples of each. 15. Describe 
the Egyptian conception of the judgment of the dead (illustration, page 56). 
16. How many "books" are there in the Old Testament? 17. W^hat is the Apocry- 
pha? 18. How are the pyramids proof of an advanced civilization among the 
Egyptians? 19. What is a bas-relief? Select some examples from the illustrations. 
20. From what Oriental peoples do we get the oldest true arch? the first coined 
money? the earliest legal code? the most ancient book? 21. Enumerate the most 
important contributions to civilization made in Oriental antiquity. 



CHAPTER IV 

THE LANDS OF THE WEST AND THE RISE OF, 
GREECE TO ABOUT 600 B.C.i 

20. Physical Europe 

The continent of Asia, projecting its huge bulk southwest- 
ward between the seas, gradually narrows into the smaller 
continent of Europe. The boundary between the Europe a 
two regions is not well defined. Ancient geogra- peninsula 
phers found a convenient dividing line north of 
the Black Sea in the course of the river Don. Modern map 
makers usually place the division at the Ural Mountains, the 
Caspian Sea, and the Caucasus. Each of these boundaries 
is more or less arbitrary. In a geographical sense Europe is 
only the largest of the great Asiatic peninsulas. 

But in physical features the two continents disclose the most 
striking contrasts. The sea, which washes only the remote 
edges of Asia, penetrates deeply into Europe and phygjcai fea- 
forms an extremely irregular coast line with numer- tures of 
ous bays and harbors. The mountains of Europe, "^°P® 
seldom very high and provided with easy passes, present no 
such barriers to intercourse as the mightier ranges of Asia. We 
miss in Europe the extensive deserts and barren table-lands 
which form such a feature of Asiatic geography. With the 
exception of Russia the surface, generally, is distributed into 
plains, hills, and valleys of moderate size. Instead of a few 
large rivers, such as are found in Asia, Europe is well supphed 
with numerous streams that make it possible to travel readily 
from one district to another. 

The almost unbroken mountain chain formed by the Pyrenees, 

1 Webster, Readings in Ancient History, chapter iii, "Early Greek Society as 
Pictured in the Homeric Poems"; chapter iv, "Stories from Greek Mythology"; 
chapter v, "Some Greek Tyrants"; chapter vi, "Spartan Education and Life." 

6S 



66 The Rise of Greece 

the Alps, and the Balkans, sharply separates the central 
Central and ^^^^ msLSS of Europe from the regions to the south, 
northern Central Europe consists, in general, of lowlands, 

^°^® which widen eastward into the vast Russian plain. 

Northern Europe includes the British Isles, physically an exten- 
sion of Europe, and the peninsulas of Scandinavia and Finland, 
betw^een the Baltic Sea and the Arctic Ocean. Twenty centuries 
ago central and northern Europe was a land of forests and 
marshes, of desolate steppes and icebound hills. The peoples 
who inhabited it — Celts in the west, Teutons or Germans in 
the north, Slavs in the east — were men of Indo-European ^ 
race and speech. They were still barbarians. During ancient 
times we hear little of them, except as their occasional migra- 
tions southward brought them into contact w4th the Greeks 
and the Romans. 

Southern Europe comprises the three peninsulas of Spain, 
Italy, and the Balkans, which reach far south into the Mediter- 
Southern ranean. This great inland sea is divided into two 

Europe parts near the center, where Africa and the island 

of Sicily almost touch each other across a narrow strait. The 
eastern part contains several minor seas, of which the one 
called the ^Egean had most importance in Greek history. 

21. Greece and the ^gean 

The yEgean is an almost landlocked body of water. The 
Balkan peninsula, narrowing toward the Mediterranean into 
The ^gean the smaller peninsula of Greece, confines it on the 
S®^ west. On the east it meets a boundary in Asia 

Minor. The southern boundary is formed by a chain of islands, 
while the only opening northward is found in the narrow pas- 
sage leading to the Black Sea. The coasts and islands of the 
.^gean thus make up a little world set off by itself. 

Continental Greece is a tiny country. Its greatest length is 
Continental scarcely more than two hundred and fifty miles; its 
Greece greatest breadth is only one hundred and eighty 

miles. Mountain ridges, offshoots of the Balkans, compose 

1 See pages 16-17. 



Greece and the JEgesm 67 

the greater part of its area. Into the yalleys and deep gorges 
of the interior the impetuous sea has everywhere forced a chan- 
nel. The coast Hne, accordingly, is most irregular — a constant 
succession of sharp promontories and curving bays. The 
mountains, crossing the peninsula in confused masses, break it 
up into numberless valleys and glens which seldom wdden into 
plains. The rivers are not navigable. The few lakes, hemmed 
in by the hills, have no outlets except in underground channels. 
In this land of the Greeks no place is more than fifty miles from 
a mountain range, or more than forty miles from some long 
arm of the Mediterranean. 

From the Greek mainland to the coast of Asia Minor the 
traveler follows a route thickly studded with rocky islands. 
They are near enough together to permit the The ^Egean 
passage from one to another without losing sight islands 
of land. The ^^gean islands thus served as ''stepping-stones" 
between Greece and Asia Minor. ^ 

Western Asia Minor resembles Continental Greece in its 
deeply indented coast, variety of scenery, and mild climate. 
The fertile river valleys of this region early at- Western Asia 
tracted Greek colonists. They built here many Minor 
flourishing cities, especially along the central coast, which 
came to be known as Ionia. 

Greek history well illustrates the influence of geographical 
conditions on the life of a people. In the first place, mountain 
ranges cut up Continental Greece into many small influence of 
states, separated from one another by natural geographical 
ramparts. Hence the Greeks loved most of all 
their own local independence and always refused to unite into 
one nation under a single government. In the second place, 
the near presence of the sea made sailors of the Greeks and led 
them to devote much energy to foreign commerce.. They 
early felt, in consequence, the stimulating effects of inter- 
course with other peoples. Finally, the location of Greece at 
the threshold of Asia, with its best harbors and most numer- 
ous islands on the eastern coast, enabled the country to receive 

1 For the island routes see the map between pages 68-69. 



68 



The Rise of Greece 



and profit by all the culture of the Orient. Greece faced the 
civilized East. 

22. The ^gean Age (to about 1100 B.C.) 

The Greeks of historic times knew very httle about their 
prehistoric period. Instead of accurate knowledge they had 

..-1^^1fr-^--^-^a ___ A prehistoric only the 
.,,^<^^m^^-';-'-''''^if:J^^Z^^T^ civilization be^y ,-i_ 

f ul legends preserved 
in ancient poems, 
such as the Iliad 
and the Odyssey. 
Within our own 
day, however, re- 
markable excava- 
tions have disclosed 
the remains of a 
widespread and 
flourishing civiliza- 
tion in times so dis- 
tant that the historic 
Greeks had lost all 
sight of it. As in the 
Orient,^ the labors 
of modern scholars 
are yearly adding to 
our knowledge of 
ancient Hfe. 

The man who did 
most to reveal the 
prehistoric civilization of Greece was a wealthy German mer- 
chant named Heinrich Schhemann. An enthu- 
siastic lover of Homer, he believed that the stories 
of the Trojan War related in the Iliad were not 
idle fancies, but real facts. In 1870 a.d. he started to test his 
behefs by excavations at a hill called Hissarlik, on the north- 




• Excavations at Troy 

The great northeast tower of the sixth city. The stairs 
at the right belong to the eighth city. 



Schliemann's 
excavations 
at Troy 



* See page 42. 



The yEgean Age 



69 



western coast of Asia Minor. Here tradition had always fixed 
the site of ancient Troy. SchHemann's discoveries and those of 
later explorers proved that at Hissarhk at least nine successive 
cities had come into existence, flourished, and passed away. 




Excavations completed in -1892 a.d. have shown that the sixth 
city in order from the bottom was the one described in the 
Homeric poems. It had powerful walls defended by towers, 
well-fortified gates, and palaces of stone. The marks of fire 
throughout the ruins indicate that the 'city must have been 
destroyed by a disastrous conflagration. 

The remarkable disclosures at Troy encouraged Schhemann 
to excavate other Homeric sites. At Mycenae, a prehistoric 



70 



The Rise of Greece 



Schliemann's 
excavations 
at Mycenae 
and Tiryns 



city of Argolis in Greece, he laid bare six rock-hewn graves, 
containing the skeletons of nineteen persons, men, 
women, and children. The faces of the dead had 
been covered with thin masks of gold, and their 
bodies had been decked with gold diadems, brace- 
lets, and pendants. The other funeral offerings include gold 

rings, silver vases, 
and a variety of 
bronze weapons. 
At Tiryns, once 
the capital of Ar- 
golis, he uncov- 
ered the ruins of 
an extensive 
structure with 
gateways, open 
courts, and closed 
apartments. 
Characteristic of 
i this edifice were 
the separate quar- 
ters occupied by 
men and women, 
the series of store- 
rooms for provi- 
sions, and such a 
modern conven- 
ience as a bath- 
room with pipes and drains. In short, the palace at Tiryns 
gives us a clear and detailed picture of the home of a Homeric 
prince. 

But the fame of even Schliemann's discoveries has been some- 
what dimmed by the excavations made since 1900 a.d. on the 
Evans's ex- ^^^^ ^^ Gnossus, the ancient capital of the island of 
cavations at Crete. At Gnossus an Englishman, Sir Arthur 
Evans, has found the remains of an enormous 
palace, with numerous courts, passages, and rooms. Here is 




Lions' Gate, Mycen^ 

The stone relief, of triangular shape, represents two lions 
(or lionesses) facing each other on opposite sides of a pillar. 
The heads of the animals have been lost. 



^ "' 

s ^ 






H 3 



3 < 



q 3 

i - 




The iEgean Age 



71 



Antiquity of 
^gean civi- 
lization 




the royal council chamber with the throne on which the king 
once sat. Here are the royal magazines, still filled with huge 
earthenware jars for the storage of provisions. A great number 
of brilliant pictures — hunting scenes, landscapes, portraits of 
men and women — cover the palace walls. Buried in some of 
the chambers were thousands 
of clay tablets with inscrip- 
tions which, if ever read, will 
add new chapters to ancient 
history.^ 

These discoveries in the 
iEgean enable us to place 
another venerable 
center of civilized 
hfe by the side of 
Babylonia and Egypt. As 
early as 3000 B.C. the primitive 
inhabitants of the ^gean were 
giving up the use of stone tools 
and weapons for those of metal. 
Bronze soon came into general 
use, as is shown by the excava- 
tions. The five centuries between 1600 and iioo B.C. appear 
to have been the time when the civilization of the ^gean Age 
reached its highest development. 

Remarkable progress took place during JEgesm times in some 
of the fine arts. We find imposing palaces, often splendidly 
adorned and arranged for a life of comfort. Wall 
paintings, plaster reliefs, and fine carvings in stone 
excite our admiration, ^gean artists made beautiful pottery 
of many shapes and cleverly decorated it with plant and ani- 
mal forms. They carved ivory, engraved gems, and excelled 
in the working of metals. Some of their productions in gold, 
silver, and bronze were scarcely surpassed by Greek artists a 
thousand years later.^ 

There was much intercourse throughout the Mediterranean 

1 See the illustration, page lo. ^ See the plate facing page 70. 



Silver Fragment from Mycen^ 

National Museum, Athens 

A siege scene showing the bows, slings, 
and huge shields of Mycenaean warriors. In 
the background are seen the masonry of 
the city wall and the flat-roofed houses. 



The fine arts 



72 



The Rise of Greece 



Commerce 



during this period. Products of JEgesin art have been found 
as far west as Sicily, Italy, and Spain. yEgean 
pottery has frequently been discovered in Egyp- 
tian tombs. Some objects unearthed in Babylonia are ap- 
_ parently of iEgean workmanship. 

In those ancient days Crete was 
mistress of the seas. Cretan mer- 
chants preceded the Phoenicians as 
carriers between Asia and Europe.^ 
Trade and commerce thus opened 
up the Mediterranean world to 
all the cultural influences of the 
Orient. 

iEgean civilization did not pene- 
trate beyond the shores of Asia 
Downfall of ^'^^ov, the islands, 
JEgesLn civi- and the coasts of 
Continental Greece. 
The interior regions of the Greek 
peninsula remained the home of 
barbarous tribes, which had not 
yet learned to build cities, to Cre- 
ate beautiful objects of art, or to 
By iioo B.C. their destructive inroads 




A Cretan Girl 

Museum of Candia, Crete 

A fresco painting from the palace 
of Gnossus. The girl's face is so aston- 
ishingly modern in treatment that one 
can scarcely believe that the picture 
belongs to the sixteenth century b.c. 



traffic on the seas 

brought the ^Egean Age to an end. 

23. The Homeric Age (about 1100-750 B.C.) 

The barbarians w^ho overthrew iEgean civilization seem to 
have entered Greece from the north, perhaps from the region 
of the Danube River. They pushed gradually 
southward, sometimes exterminating or enslaving 
the earher inhabitants of the country, but more 
often settling peaceably in their new homes. Conquerors and 
conquered slowly intermingled and so produced the one Greek 
people which is found at the dawn of history. These Greeks, 
as we shall call them henceforth, also occupied the islands of 

^ See pages 2g, 48. 



Coming of 
the northern 
barbarians 



The Homeric Age 



73 




the iEgean Sea and the coast of Asia Minor. The entire basin 
of the JEgesLU thus became a Greek world. 

The period between the end of the iEgean Age and the open- 
ing of historic times in Greece The Homeric 
is usually called the Homeric ^^^^^ 
Age, because many features of its civiliza- 
tion are reflected in two epic poems called 
the Iliad and the Odyssey. The former 
deals with the story of a Greek expedition 
against Troy; the latter describes the wan- 
derings of the hero Odysseus on his return 
from Troy. The two epics were probably 
composed in Ionia, and by the Greeks were 
attributed to a blind bard named Homer. 
Many modern scholars, however, consider 
them the work of several generations of 
poets. The references in the Iliad and the 
Odyssey to industry, social life, law, gov- 
ernment, and rehgion give us some idea 
of the culture which the historic Greeks 
received as their inheritance. 

The Greeks as described in the Homeric 

epics were in a transitional stage between 

the life of shepherds and that ^ , 

Industry 
of farmers. Wealth consisted 

chiefly of flocks and herds, though nearly 
every freeman owned a little plot of land 
on which he cultivated grain and cared for 
his orchard and vineyard. There were few 
skilled workmen, for almost everything was made at home. 
A separate class of traders had not yet arisen. Commerce was 
httle followed. The Greeks depended on Phoenician sailors to 
bring to their shores the commodities which they could not 
produce themselves. Iron was known and used, for instance, 
in the manufacture of farm tools. During Homeric times, how- 
ever, that metal had not yet displaced copper and bronze.^ 

1 See page 5. 



.^GEAN Snake 
Goddess 

Museum of Fine Arts, 
Boston 

A gold and ivory statu- 
ette found in Crete. Dates 
from the sixteenth cen- 
tury B.C. The goddess 
wears the characteristic 
Cretan dress, with low- 
cut jacket and full skirt 
with five plaited flounces. 
On her head is an elabo- 
rate crown. 



74 



The Rise of Greece 



Social life 



Social life was very simple. Princes tended flocks and built 
houses; princesses carried -^^ater and washed clothes. Agamem- 
non, Odysseus, and other heroes were not ashamed 
to be their own butchers and cooks. The Homeric 
knights did not ride on horseback, but fought from chariots. 
They sat at table instead of reclining 
at meals, as did the later Greeks. 
Coined money was unknown. Trade 
was by barter, values being reckoned 
in oxen or in lumps of gold and silver. 
Men bought their wives by making 
gifts of cattle to the parents. The 
art of writing is mentioned only once 
in the Homeric poems, and doubtless 
was little used. 

The times were rude. Wars, though 
petty, were numerous and cruel. The 
Law and vanquished suffered 

morality death or slavery. Piracy, 

flourishing upon the unprotected seas, 
ranked as an honorable occupation. 
It was no insult to inquire of a sea- 
faring stranger whether he was pirate 
or merchant. Murders were frequent. 
The murderer had to dread, not a pub- 
lic trial and punishment, but rather 
the personal vengeance of the kinsmen 
of his victim. The Homeric Greeks, 
in fact, exhibited the usual defects 
and vices of barbarous peoples. 
The Iliad and Odyssey disclose a considerable acquaintance 
with peninsular Greece and the coasts of Asia Minor. Cyprus, 
Homeric Egypt, and Sicily are also known in part. The 

geography p^g^ imagines the earth as a sort of flat shield, 
with Greece lying in the center.^ The Mediterranean, ''The 
Sea," as it is called by Homer, and its continuation, the 

1 See the map, page 76. 




A Cretan Cupbearer 

Museum of Candia, Crete 
A fresco painting from the pal- 
ace of Gnossus. The youth car- 
ries a silver cup ornamented with 
gold. His waist is tightly drawn 
in by a girdle, his hair is dark 
and curly; his profile is almost 
classically Greek. 



Early Greek Religion 



75 



Euxine,^ divided the world into two equal parts. Surrounding 
the earth was "the great strength of the Stream of Ocean," ^ a 
river, broad and deep, beyond which lay the dark and misty 




realm of the mythical Cimmerians. The underworld of Hades, 
home of the dead, was beneath the surface of the earth. 



24. Early Greek Religion 

We may learn from the Homeric poems what were the religious 
ideas held by the early Greeks. The greater gods and goddesses 
were not numerous. Less than a score everywhere The Oly in- 
received worship under the same names and in all p^*" council 
the temples. Twelve of the chief deities formed a select council, 
which was supposed to meet on the top of snow-crowned Olym- 
pus. The Greeks, however, did not agree as to what gods and 
goddesses should be included in this august assemblage. 

^ The Greek name of the Black Sea. 2 //^aJ, xviii, 607. 



76 



The Rise of Greece 



Many of the Olympian deities appear to have been simply 
personifications of natural phenomena. Zeus, '^ father of gods 
Attributes of and men," as Homer calls him, was a heaven god, 
the deities ^]^q gathered the clouds in storms and hurled the 
lightning bolt. Apollo, a mighty god of light, who warded off 




rrHE WORLD 
according to 
HOMER 

(900 B.C.) 



darkness and* evil, became the ideal of manly beauty and the 
patron of music, poetry, and healing. Dionysus was worshiped 
as the god of sprouting and budding vegetation. Poseidon, 
brother of Zeus, ruled the sea. Hera, the wife of Zeus, repre- 
sented the female principle in nature. Hence she presided over 
the life of women and especially over the sacred rites of marriage. 
Athena, who sprang full-grown from the forehead of Zeus, 
embodied the idea of wisdom and all womanly virtues. Aphro- 
dite, who arose from the foam of the sea, was the goddess of 
love and beauty. Demeter, the great earth-mother, watched 
over seed-time and harvest. Each deity thus had a kingdom 
and a function of its own. 





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Zeus Otricoli 

Vatican Gallery, Rome 




Hera 
Ludovisi Villa, Rome 




Apollo of the Belvedere Aphrodite of Cnidus 

Vatican Gallery, Rome Glyptothek, Munich 

GREEK GODS AND GODDESSES 




THE APHRODITE OF MELOS 
Louvre, Paris 

More commonly known as the " Venus of Milo." The statue was dis- 
covered in 1820 A.D. on the island of Melos. It consists of two principal 
pieces, joined together across the folds of the drapery. Most art critics date 
this work about 100 B.C. The strong, serene figure of the goddess sets forth 
the Greek ideal of female loveliness. 



Early Greek Religion 



77 



The Greeks made their gods and goddesses after themselves. 
The Olympian divinities are really magnified men and women, 
subject to all human passions and appetites, but Conceptions 
possessed of more than human power and endowed °^ *^® deities 
with immortahty. They enjoy the banquet, where they feast 



Calydonian boar hunt 

Games at the funeral 
of Patroclus 

Peleus, Thetis, and the 
gods 

Pursuit of Troilus by 
Achilles 

Animal scenes, 
sphinxes, etc. 




The Francois Vase 

Archaeological Museum, Florence 

Found in an Etruscan grave in 1844 a.d. A black -figured terra cotta vase of about 
600 B.C. It is nearly three feet in height and two and one-half feet in diameter. The 
figures on the vase depict scenes from Greek mythology. 

on nectar and ambrosia; they take part in the struggles of 
the battle field; they marry and are given in marriage. The 
gods, morally, were no better than their worshipers. They 
might be represented as deceitful, dissolute, and cruel, but 
they could also be regarded as upholders of truth and virtue. 
Even Homer could say, "Verily the blessed gods love not evil 
deeds, but they reverence justice and the righteous acts of 
men." ^ 

Greek ideas of the other world were dismal to an extreme. 

1 Odyssey, xiv, 83-84. 



78 



The Rise of Greece 



The after-Ufe in Hades was believed to be a shadowy, joyless 
Ideas of the copy of the earthly existence. In Hades the shade 
other world ^f great Achilles exclaims sorrowfully, "Nay, 
speak not comfortably to me of death. Rather would I live 

on earth as the hireling of another, 
even with a landless man who had 
no great livelihood, than bear 
sway among all the dead." ^ It 
was not until several centuries 
after Homer that happier notions 
of the future life were taught, or 
at least suggested, in the Eleusin- 
ian mysteries.^ 

25. Religious Institutions : 
Oracles and Games 

The Greeks believed that com- 
munications from the gods were 
received from certain 
inspired persons at 
places called oracles. 
The oracle of Apollo at Delphi in 
Phocis enjoyed the utmost veneration. It lay within a deep 
cave on the rocky side of Mount Parnassus. Out of a chasm 
rose a volcanic vapor which had a certain intoxicating power. 
The Pythia, or prophetess of Apollo, sat on a tripod over the 
steaming cleft and inhaled the gas. The words she uttered in 
delirium were supposed to come from the god. They were 
taken down by the attendant priests, written out in verse, and 
delivered to the suppliants. 

The fame of Apollo as the patron of inspiration and prophecy 
spread throughout Greece and penetrated to foreign lands. 
Every year thousands of visitors made their way 
to Apollo's shrine. Sick men prayed for health, 
childless men prayed for offspring. Statesmen wished to learn 
the fate of their political schemes; ambassadors sent by kings 

1 Odyssey, xi, 488-491. 2 See page 227. 




Consulting the Oracle at 
Delphi 



Oracle of 
Apollo at 
Delphi 



Inquiries at 
the oracle 



Religious Institutions: Oracles and Games 79 

and cities sought advice as to weighty matters of peace and war. 
Above all, colonists came to Delphi in order to obtain directions 
as to the best country in which to settle. Some of the noblest 
cities of the Greek world, Cyrene and Byzantium, for example,^ 
had their sites fixed by Apollo's guidance. 

The priests who managed the oracle and its responses were 
usually able to give good advice to their inquirers, because 
news of every sort streamed into Delphi. When character of 
the priests were doubtful what answer to give, the responses 
the prophecy of the god was sometimes expressed in such 
ambiguous fashion that, whatever the outcome, neither Apollo 
nor his servants could be charged with deceit. For instance, 
when Croesus, the Lydian king, was about to attack Cyrus, 
he learned from the oracle that ''if he warred with the Persians 
he would overthrow a mighty empire"^ — but the mighty 
empire proved to be his own.^ 

Athletic games were held in different parts of Greece from a 
remote period. The most famous games were those in honor 
of Zeus at Olympia in Ehs. They took place The Olym- 
every fourth year, in midsummer."^ A sacred p^^^ games 
truce was proclaimed for an entire month, in order that the 
thousands of spectators from every part of Greece might arrive 
and depart in safety. No one not of Greek blood and no one 
convicted of crime or of the sin of impiety might participate in 
the contests. The candidates had also to prove that they were 
qualified for the severe tests by a long and hard training. Once 
accepted as competitors, they could not withdraw. The man 
who shrank back when the hour of trial arrived was considered 
a coward and was punished with a heavy fine. 

The games occupied five days, beginning with the contests 

in running. There was a short-distance dash ^, ^ ^ 
° The contests 

through the length of the stadium, a quarter-mile 

race, and also a longer racQ, probably for two or three miles. 

1 See pages 88, go. 2 Herodotus, i, 53. « See page 37. 

* The first recorded celebration occurred in 776 B.C. The four-year period between 
the games, called an Olympiad, became the Greek unit for determining dates. 
Events were reckoned as taking place m the first, second, third, or fourth year of a 
given Olympiad. 



8o 



The Rise of Greece 



Then followed a contest consisting of five events: the long 
jump, hurling the discus, throwing the javelin, running, and 
wrestling. It is not known how victory in these five events 

taken together was decided. In the 
long jump, weights like dumb-bells 
were held in the hands, the swing of 
the weights being used to assist the 
spring. The discus, which weighed 
about twelve pounds, was some- 
times hurled more than one hun- 
dred feet. The javelin was thrown 
either by the hand alone or with the 
help of a thong wound about the 
shaft and held in the fingers. In 
wrestling, three falls were necessary 
for a victory. The contestants were 
free to get their grip as best they 
could. Other contests included box- 
ing, horse races, and chariot races. 
Women were apparently excluded 
from the games, yet they were al- 
lowed to enter horses for the races 
and to set up statues in honor of 
the victors. 

The Olympian festival was pro- 
foundly religious, because the dis- 
The victor's play of manly strength 
reward ^^g thought to be a 

spectacle most pleasing to the gods. 
The winning athlete received only a 
wreath of wild olive at Olympia, but 
at home he enjoyed the gifts and veneration of his fellow-citi- 
zens. Poets celebrated his victories in noble odes. Sculptors 
reproduced his triumphs in stone and bronze. To the end of his 
days he remained a distinguished man. 

There were few Greeks who at least once in their lives did not 
attend the festival. The crowds that gathered before and after 




The Discus Thrower 
(Discobolus) 

Lancelotti Palace, Rome 
Marble copy of the bronze origi- 
nal by Myron, a sculptor of the fifth 
century b.c. Found in 1781 a.d. on 
the Esquiline Hill, Rome. The stat- 
ue represents a young man, perhaps 
an athlete at the Olympian games, 
who is bending forward to hurl the 
discus. His body is thrown vio- 
lently to the left with a twisting ac- 
tion that brings every muscle into 
play. 




HERMES AND DIONYSUS 
Museum of Olympia 

An original statue by the great sculptor, Praxiteles. It was found in 1877 a.d. at Olym- 
pia. Hermes is represented carrying the child Dionysus, whom Zeus had intrusted to his 
care. The symmetrica] body oi Hermes is faultlessly modeled; the poise of his head is full of 
dignity; his expression is refined and thoughtful. Manly strength and beauty have never 
been better embodied than in this work. 



The Greek City-State 



the games turned the camp into a great fair, at which mer- 
chants set up their shops and money changers their Significance 
tables. Poets recited their hnes before admiring of the games 
audiences and artists exhibited their masterpieces to intending 
purchasers. Heralds read treaties re- 
cently formed between Greek cities, in 
order to have them widely known. 
Orators addressed the multitude on 
subjects of general interest. The games 
thus helped to preserve a sense of fel- 
lowship among Greek communities. 

26. The Greek City-State 

The Greeks in Homeric times had 
already begun to live in towns and cities. 
A Greek city, being inde- Nature of the 
pendent and self-govern- city-state 
ing, is properly called a city-state. Just 
as a modern nation, it could declare war, 
arrange treaties, and make alliances 
with its neighbors. Such a city-state 
included not only the territory within 
its walls, but also the surrounding dis- 
trict where many of the citizens lived. 

The members of a Greek city-state 
were very closely associated. The citi- 
zens believed themselves to ^, 

The citizens 
be descended from a com- 
mon ancestor and so to be all related. 
They were united, also, in the worship of 
the patron god or hero who had them 
under his protection. These ties of sup- 
posed kinship and common religion were of the utmost impor- 
tance. They made citizenship a privilege which came to a 
person only by birth, a privilege which he lost by removal to 
another city. Elsewhere he was only a foreigner without legal 
rights — a man without a country. 




Athlete using the Stri- 

GIL (ApOXYOMENUS) 
Vatican Gallery, Rome 
Marble copy of the bronze 
original by Lysippus, a sculp)- 
tor of the fourth century B.C. 
The statute represents an ath- 
lete rubbing his arm with a 
flesh scraper to remove the oil 
and sand of the palestra, or 
exercising ground. His slen- 
der form suggests quickness 
and agility rather than great 
strength. 



82 The Rise of Greece 

The Homeric poems, which give us our first view of the Greek 
city-state, also contain the most ancient account of its govern- 
Government ^^^^- Each city-state had a king, ''the shepherd 
of the city- of the people," ^ as Homer calls him. The king 
did not possess absolute authority. He was sur- 
rounded by a council of nobles, chiefly the great landowners of 
the community. They helped him in judgment and sacrifice, 
followed him to war, and filled the principal offices. Both king 
and nobles were obliged to consult the common people on 
matters of great importance. For this purpose the ruler would 
summon the citizens to the market place to hear the delibera- 
tions of his council and to settle such questions as making war 
or declaring peace. All men of free birth could attend the 
assembly, where they shouted assent to the decision of their 
leaders or showed disapproval by silence. This public assembly 
had little importance in the Homeric Age, but later it be- 
came the center of Greek democracy. 

After the middle of the eighth century B.C., when historic 
times began in Greece, some interesting changes took place in 
Political de- ^^^ government of the city-states. In some of 
velopment of them, for example, Thebes and Corinth, the nobles 
e ci y-s a e ^^^.^^j^g strong enough to aboHsh the kingship 
altogether. Monarchy, the rule of one, thus gave away to 
aristocracy,^ the rule of the nobles. In other states, for instance, 
Sparta and Argos, the kings were not driven out, but their power 
was much weakened. Some states came under the control of 
usurpers whom the Greeks called "tyrants." A tyrant was a 
man who gained supreme power by force and governed for his 
own benefit without regard to the laws. There were many 
tyrannies in the Greek world during the seventh and sixth 
centuries B.C. Still other states went through an entire cycle 
of changes from kingship to aristocracy, from aristocracy to 
tyranny, and from tyranny to democracy or popular rule. 

The isolated and independent Greek communities thus 

1 Iliad, ii, 243. 

2 Aristocracy means, literally, the "government of the best." The Greeks also 
used the word oligarchy — "rule of the few" — to describe a government by citizens 
who belong to the wealthy class. 



The Growth of Sparta 83 

developed at an early period many different kinds of govern- 
ment. To study them all would be a long task. 
T . 1 r . 1 . Sparta and 

It IS better to fix our attention on the two city- Athens as 

states which held the principal place in Greek ^^^^ ^^ *^® 
, . , , . ^ , , city-state 

history and at the same time presented the 

most striking contrasts in government and social life. These 

were Sparta and Athens. 

27. The Growth of Sparta (to 500 B.C.) 

The Greek invaders who entered southern Greece, or the 
Peloponnesus,^ were known as Dorians. They founded the city 
of Sparta, in the district of Laconia. By the close gparta and 
of the sixth century B.C. the Spartans were able the Peiopon- 
to conquer their immediate neighbors and to °®^^^^ ^^g\xQ 
organize some of the city-states of the Peloponnesus into a 
strong confederacy called the Peloponnesian League. The 
members of the league did not pay tribute, but they furnished 
troops to serve in war under Spartan leaders, and they looked 
to Sparta for guidance and protection. Thus this single city 
became the foremost power in southern Greece. 

It is clear that the Spartans must have been an extremely 
vigorous and warlike people. Their city, in fact, formed a 
military camp, garrisoned by soldiers whose whole gparta a 
Hfe was passed in war and in preparation for war. mUitary 
The Spartans were able to devote themselves to *^^°^^ 
martial pursuits because they possessed a large number of serfs, 
called helots. The helots tilled the lands of the Spartans and 
gave up to their masters the entire product of their labor, 
except what was necessary for a bare subsistence. 

Spartan government also had a military character. In form 
the state was a kingdom, but since there were always two kings 
reigning at once and enjoying equal authority. Government 
neither of them could become very powerful. The °^ Sparta 
real management of pubhc affairs lay in the hands of five men, 
known as ephors, who were elected every year by the popular 

1 "Pelops's island," a name derived from a legendary hero who settled in 
southern Greece. 



84 The Rise of Greece 

assembly. The ephors accompanied the kings in war and di- 
rected their actions; guided the dehberations of the council 
of nobles and the assembly of freemen; superintended the 
education of children; and exercised a general oversight of the 
private life of citizens. The ephors had such absolute control 
over the hves and property of the Spartans that we may describe 
their rule as socialistic and select Sparta as an example of an- 
cient state socialism. Nowhere else in the Greek world was the 
weKare of the individual man so thoroughly subordinated to the 
interests of the society of which he formed a unit. 

Spartan education had a single purpose -^ to produce good 
soldiers and obedient citizens. A sound body formed the 
The Spartan first essential. A father was required to submit 
^°y his son, soon after birth, to an inspection by the 

elders of his tribe. If they found the child puny or ill-shaped, 
they ordered it to be left on the mountain side, to perish from 
exposure. At the age of seven a boy was taken from his parents' 
home and placed in a military school. Here he was trained in 
marching, sham fighting, and gymnastics. He learned to sing 
warlike songs and in conversation to express himself in the 
fewest possible words. Spartan brevity of speech became pro- 
verbial. Above all he learned to endure hardship without 
complaint. He went barefoot and wore only a single garment, 
winter and summer. He slept on a bed of rushes. Every year 
he and his comrades had to submit to a flogging before the 
altar of the goddess Artemis, and the hero was the lad who 
could bear the whipping longest without giving a sign of pain. 
It is said that boys sometimes died under the lash rather than 
utter a cry. Such ordeals are still a feature of savage life 
to-day. 

On reaching the age of twenty the youth was considered a 
warrior. He did not live at home, but passed his time in bar- 
The adult racks, as a member of a mihtary mess to which he 
Spartan contributed his proper share of food, wine, and 

money. At the age of thirty years the young Spartan became a 
full citizen and a member of the popular assembly. He was then 
compelled to marry in order to raise children for the state. 



The Growth of Athens 85 

But marriage did not free him from attendance at the pubHc 
meals, the drill ground, and the gymnasium. A Spartan, in 
fact, enjoyed httle home life until his sixtieth year, when he 
became an elder and retired from actual service. 

This exclusive devotion to military pursuits accomplished 
its object. The Spartans became the finest soldiers of antiquity. 
''AH the rest of the Greeks," says an ancient Excellence 
writer, ''are amateurs; the Spartans are profes- of the Spar- 
sionals in the conduct of war." ^ Though Sparta *^ ^° ^^^^ 
never produced great thinkers, poets, or artists, her military 
strength made her the bulwark of Greece against foreign foes. 
The time was to come when Greece, to retain her Uberties, 
would need this disciplined Spartan soldiery .^ 

28. The Growth of Athens (to 500 B.C.) 

The district of Attica, though smaller than our smallest 
American commonwealth, was early filled with a number of 
independent city-states. It was a great step in ' Athens as a 
advance when, long before the dawn of Greek "ty-state 
history, these tiny communities were united with Athens. 
The inhabitants of the Attic towns and villages gave up their 
separate governments and became members of the one city- 
state of Athens. Henceforth a man was a Athenian citizen, no 
matter in what part of Attica he lived. 

At an earlier period, perhaps, than elsewhere in Greece, mon- 
archy at Athens disappeared before the rising power of the 
nobles. The rule of the nobility bore harshly on oppressive 
the common people. Popular discontent was rule of the 
especially excited at the administration of justice. ^° ^^ 
There were at first no written laws, but only the long-estabhshed 

1 Xenophon, Polity of the Lacedcemonians, 13. 

2 The Spartans believed that their mihtary organization was the work of a great 
reformer and law-giver named Lycurgus. He was supposed to have Uved early in 
the ninth century B.C. We do not know anything about Lycurgus, but we do know 
that some existing primitive tribes, for instance, the Masai of East Africa, have cus- 
toms almost the same as those of ancient Sparta. Hence we may say that the rude, 
even barbarous, Spartans only carried over into the historic age the habits of Ufa 
which they had formed in prehistoric times. 



86 The Rise of Greece 

customs of the community. Since all the judges were nobles, 
they were tempted to decide legal cases in favor of their own 
class. The people, at length, began to clamor for a written 
code. They could then know just what the laws were. 

After much agitation an Athenian named Draco was employed 
to write out a code for the state. The laws, as pubhshed, were 
Draco's code, very severe. The penalty for most offenses, even 
621 B.C. i]^Q smallest theft, was death. The Athenians 

used to declare that the Draconian code had been written, "not 
in ink, but in blood." Its publication, however, was a popular 
triumph and the first step toward the estabhshment of Athenian 
democracy. 

The second step was the legislation of Solon. This celebrated 
Athenian was accounted among the wisest men of his age. The 
Legislation people held him in high honor and gave him power 
of Solon, to make much-needed reforms. At this time the 

' ' condition of the Attic peasants was deplorable. 
Many of them had failed to pay their rent to the wealthy land- 
owners, and according to the old custom were being sold into 
slavery. Solon abolished the custom and restored to freedom 
all those who had been enslaved for debt. He also limited the 
amount of land which a noble might hold. By still another law 
he admitted even the poorest citizens to the popular assembly, 
where they could vote for magistrates and judge of their con- 
duct after their year of office VN^as over. By giving the common 
people a greater share in the government, Solon helped forward 
the democratic movement at Athens. 

Solon's reforms satisfied neither the nobility nor the com- 
mons. The two classes continued their rivalry until the disorder 
Tyranny of ^^ ^^^ times enabled an ambitious politician to gain 
Pisistratus, supreme power as a tyrant.^ He was Solon's own 
nephew, a noble named Pisistratus. The tyrant 
ruled with moderation and did much to develop the Athenian 
city-state. He fostered agriculture by dividing the lands of 
banished nobles among the peasants. His aUiances with neigh- 
boring cities encouraged the rising commerce of Athens. The 

1 See page 82. 



Colonial Expansion of Greece 87 

city itself was adorned with handsome buildings by architects 
and sculptors whom Pisistratus invited to his court from all 
parts of Greece. 

Pisistratus was succeeded by his two sons, but the Athenians 
did not take kindly to their rule. Before long the tyranny came 
to an end. The Athenians now found a leader in a Reforms of 
noble named Clisthenes, who proved to be an able ciisthenes, 
statesman. He carried still further the democratic ^ ~^^^ ^'^' 
movement begun by Draco and Solon. One of his reforms 
extended Athenian citizenship to many foreigners and emanci- 
pated slaves C'freedmen") then living in Attica. This liberal 
measure swelled the number of citizens and helped to make the 
Athenians a more progressive people. Chsthenes, it is said, 
also established the curious arrangement known as ostracism. 
Every year, if necessary, the citizens were to meet in assembly 
and to vote against any persons whom they thought dangerous 
to the state. If as many as six thousand votes were cast, the 
man who received the highest number of votes had to go into 
honorable exile for ten years. ^ Though ostracism was intended 
as a precaution against tyrants, before long it came to be used 
to remove unpopular politicians. 

There were still some steps to be taken before the rule of the 
people was completely secured at Athens. But, in the main, 
the Athenians by 500 B.C. had estabhshed a truly Athens a 
democratic government, the first in the history of democratic 
the world. The hour was now rapidly approach- ^*^*® 
ing when this young and vigorous democracy was to show forth 
its worth before the eyes of all Greece. 

29. Colonial Expansion of Greece (about 750-500 B.C.) 

While Athens, Sparta, and their sister states were working 
out the problems of government, another signifi- ^j^^ ^^^^ 
cant movement was going on in the Greek world, of coloniza- 
The Greeks, about the middle of the eighth cen- *^°^ 
tury B.C., began to plant numerous colonies along the shores of 

^ The name of an individual voted against was written on a piece of pottery 
(Greek ostrakon), whence the term ostracism. See the illustration, page 97. 



SS> The Rise of Greece 

the Mediterranean and of the Black Sea. The great age of 
colonization covered more than two hundred years.^ 

Several reasons led to the founding of colonies. Trade was an 
important motive. The Greeks, like the Phoenicians,^ could 
Reasons for realize large profits by exchanging their manufac- 
founding tured goods for the food and raw materials of other 

countries. Land hunger was another motive. 
The poor soil of Greece could not support many inhabitants 
and, when population increased, emigration afforded the only 
means of relieving the pressure of numbers. A third motive 
was political and social unrest. Greek cities at this period con- 
tained many men of adventurous disposition who were ready to 
seek in foreign countries a refuge from the oppression of nobles 
or tyrants. They hoped to find in their new settlements more 
freedom than they had at home. 

A Greek colony was not simply a trading post; it was a center 
of Greek hfe. The colonists continued to be Greeks in customs, 
Character of language, and religion. Though quite independent 
the Greek of the parent state, they always regarded it with 
coony reverence and affection: they called themselves 

"men away from home." Mother city and daughter colony 
traded with each other and in time of danger helped each other. 
A symbol of this unity was the sacred fire carried from the 
pubhc hearth of the old community to the new settlement. 

The Greeks planted many colonies on the coast of the northern 
^gean and on both sides of the long passage between the 
Colonization Mediterranean and the Black Sea,. Their most 
in the north important colony was Byzantium, upon the site 
where Constantinople now stands. They also 
made settlements along the shores of the Black Sea. The cities 
founded here were centers from which the Greeks drew their 
supplies of fish, wood, wool, grain, metals, and slaves. The 
immense profits to be gained by trade made the Greeks willing 
to five in a cold country so unlike their own and among bar- 
barous peoples. 

The western lands furnished far more attractive sites for 

1 See the map facing page 50. 2 See page 49. 



Colonial Expansion of Greece 89 

colonization. The Greeks/ could feel at home in southern Italy, 
where the genial chmate, pure air, and sparkUng sea Colonization 
recalled their native land. At a very early date ^ *^® '^^s* 
they founded Cumae, on the coast just north of the bay of Naples. 
Emigrants from Cumae, in turn, founded the city of Neapolis 
(Naples), which in Roman times formed a home of Greek cul- 
ture and even to-day possesses a large Greek population. To 



::^*^ 





Temple of Neptune," P^stum 

Paestura, the Greek Poseidonia, was a colony of Sybaris. The malarial atmosphere of the 
place led to its desertion in the ninth century of our era. Hence the buildings there were not 
used as quarries for later structures. The so-called "Temple of Neptune" at Paestum is one of 

the best- preserved monuments of antiquity. 

secure the approaches from Greece to these remote colonies, two 
strongholds were established on the strait of Messina: Regium ^ 
on the Italian shore and Messana ^ on that of Sicily. Another 
important colony in southern Italy was Tarentum.^ 

Greek settlements in Sicily were mainly along the coast. 
Expansion over the entire island was checked by the Carthagin- 
ians, who had numerous possessions at its western The Sicilian 
extremity. The most celebrated colony in Sicily colonies 
was Syracuse, estabhshed by emigrants from Corinth. It 
became the largest of Greek cities. 

In Corsica, Sardinia, and on the coast of Spain Carthage 
also proved too obstinate a rival for the Greeks q^^^^. j^edi- 
to gain much of a foothold. The city of MassiHa terranean 
(Marseilles), at the mouth of the Rhone, was <^°^°"^^^ 
their chief settlement in ancient Gaul. Two colonies on the 

1 Modern Reggie. 2 Modern Messina. s Modern Taranto. 



90 The Rise of Greece 

southern shore of the Mediterranean were Cyrene, west of 
Egypt, and Naucratis, in the DeUa of the Nile. From this 
time many Greek travelers visited Egypt to see the wonders 
of that strange old country. 

Energetic Greeks, the greatest colonizers of antiquity, thus 
founded settlements from the Black Sea to the Atlantic Ocean. 
Results of "All the Greek colonies" says an ancient writer, 
colonization "g^re washed by the waves of the sea, and, so to 
speak, a fringe of Greek earth is woven on to foreign lands." ^ 
To distinguish themselves from the foreigners, or ''barbari- 
ans," 2 about them, the Greeks began to call themselves by the 
common name of Hellenes. Hellas, their country, came to 
include all the territory possessed by Hellenic peoples. The 
life of the Greeks, henceforth, was confined no longer within the 
narrow limits of the ^gean. Wherever rose a Greek city, there 
w^as a scene of Greek history. 

30. Bonds of Union among the Greeks 

The Greek colonies, as we have seen, were free and independ- 
ent. In Greece itself the little city-states were just as jealous 
Language as ^^ their liberties. Nevertheless ties existed, not 
a unifying of common government, but of common interests 
and ideals, which helped to unite the scattered 
sections of the Greek world. The strongest bond of union was, 
of course, the one Greek speech. Everywhere the people used 
the same beautiful and expressive language. It is not a "dead" 
language, for it still lives in modified form on the lips of nearly 
three million people in the Greek peninsula, throughout the 
Mediterranean, and even in remote America. 

Greek literature, likewise, made for unity. The Iliad and the 
Odyssey were recited in every Greek village for centuries. They 
Literature as formed the principal textbook in the schools; an 
a unifying Athenian philosopher calls Homep the "educator 
orce, omer ^^ Hellas." It has been well said that these two 
epics were at once the Bible and the Shakespeare of the Greek 
people. 

1 Cicero, De republica, ii, 4, 2 Greek harharoi, "men of confused speech." 



Bonds of Union among the Greeks 91 

Religion formed another bond of union. Everywhere the 

Greeks worshiped the same gods and performed the same 

sacred rites. Religious influences were sometimes „ ,. . 

, T . , r 1 • 1 Religion as a 

Strong enough to brmg about federations known unifying 

as amphictyonies, or leagues of neighbors. The force; am- 
people living around a famous sanctuary would 
meet to observe their festivals in common and to guard the 
shrine of their divinity. The Delphic amphictyony was the 
most noteworthy of these local unions. It included twelve 
tribes and cities of central Greece and Thessaly. They estab- 
lished a council, which took the shrine of Apollo under its pro- 
tection and superintended the athletic games at Delphi. 

The seventh and sixth centuries before Christ form a note- 
worthy epoch in Greek history. Commerce and colonization 

were bringing their educating influence to bear . 

... . . A new age 

upon the Greeks. Hellenic cities were rising every- 
where along the Mediterranean shores. A common language, 
literature, and religion were making the people more and more 
conscious of their unity as opposed to the ''barbarians" about 
them. 

Greek history has now been traced from its beginnings to 
about 500 B.C. It is the history of a people, not of one country 
or of a united nation. Yet the time was drawing ^j^^ Greek 
near when all the Greek communities were to be world, 500 
brought together in closer bonds of union than 
they had ever before known. 



B.C. 



Studies 

I. On the map facing page 66 see what regions of Europe are less than 500 feet 
above sea level; less than 3000 feet; over gooo feet. 2. Why was Europe better 
fitted than Asia to develop the highest civilization? Why not so well fitted as Asia 
to originate civilization? 3. "The tendency of mountains is to separate, of rivers 
to unite, adjacent peoples." How can you justify this statement by a study of 
European geography? 4. Why has the Mediterranean been called a "highway of 
nations"? 5. Locate on the map several of the natural entrances into the basin 
of the Mediterranean. 6. At what points is it probable that southern Europe and 
northern Africa were once united? 7. Compare the position of Crete in relation to 
Egypt with that of Sicily in relation to the north African coast. 8. Why was the 
island of Cyprus a natural meeting place of Egyptian, Syrian, and Greek peoples? 
9. What modem countries are included within the limits of the Balkan peninsula? 



92 



The Rise of Greece 



10. Describe the island routes across the /Egean (map between pages 68-69), 

11. What American states lie in about the same latitude as Greece? 12. Compare 
the boundaries of ancient Greece with those of the modern kingdom. 13. What 
European countries in physical features closely resemble Greece? What state of 
our union? 14. Why is Greece in its physical aspects " the most European of Euro- 
pean lands"? 15. What countries of Greece did not touch the sea? 16. Tell the 
story of the Iliad and of the Odyssey. 17. Explain the following terms: oracle; 
amphictyony; helot; Hellas; Olympiad; and ephors. 18. Give the meaning of 
our Enghsh words "ostracism" and "oracular." 19. Explain the present meaning 
and historical origin of the following expressions: "a Delphic response"; "Dra- 
conian severity"; "a laconic speech." 20. What is the date of the first recorded 
Olympiad? of the expulsion of the last tyrant of Athens? 21. Describe the 
Lions' Gate (illustration, page 70) and the Frangois Vase (illustration, page 77). 
22. Compare Greek ideas of the future life with those of the Babylonians. 23. Why 
has the Delphic oracle been called "the common hearth of Hellas"? 24. What 
resemblances do you discover between the Olympian festival and one of our great 
international expositions? 25. Define and illustrate these terms: monarchy; 
aristocracy; tyranny; democracy. 26. Why are the earliest laws always unwritten? 
27. What differences existed between Phoenician and Greek colonization? 28. Why 
did the colonies, as a rule, advance more rapidly than the mother country in wealth 
and population? 29. What is the origin of the modern city of Constantinople? 
of Marseilles? of Naples? of Syracuse in Sicily? 



CHAPTER V 
THE GREAT AGE OF THE GREEK REPUBLICS TO 362 B.C.i 



Asiatic 
Greeks con- 
quered by 
Croesus 



31. The Perils of Hellas 

The history of the Greeks for many centuries had been un- 
eventful — a history of their uninterrupted expansion over 
barbarian lands. 
But now the 
time was ap- 
proaching when 
the independent and isolated 
Greek communities must 
meet the attack of the great 
despotic empires of Asia. 
The Greek cities of Asia 
Minor were the first part of 
the Hellenic world to be in- 
volved. Their conquest by 
the Lydian king, Croesus, 
about the middle of the sixth 
century B.C., showed how 
grave was the danger to Greek 
independence from the am- 
bitious designs of Oriental 
monarchs. 

As we have already learned, 
Croesus himself conquests of 

soon had to sub- Cyrus and 

foreign '^^""^^'^ 




IMMilikWIlM^ 



japjgjgnjSJgJBPOF 



mit to a 

overlord, in the person of Cyrus the Great. 



Crcesus on the Pyre 

Painting on an Athenian vase of about 490 
B.C. According to the legend Cyrus the Great, 
having made Croesus prisoner, intended to 
burn him on a pyre. But the god Apollo, to 
whose oracle at Delphi Croesus had sent rich 
gifts, put out the blaze by a sudden shower 
of rain. The vase painting represents the 
Lydian king sitting enthroned upon the pyre, 
with a laurel wreath on his head and a scep- 
ter in one hand. With the other hand he 
pours a libation. He seems to be performing 
a religious rite, not to be suffering an igno- 
minious death. 



The subjugation 



1 Webster, Readings in Ancient History, chapter vii, "Xerxes and the Persian 
Invasion of Greece"; chapter viii, "Episodes from the Peloponnesian War " ; chapter 
ix, "Alcibiades the Athenian"; chapter x, "The Expedition of the Ten Thousand"; 
chapter xi, "The Trial and Death of Socrates." 

93 



94 The Great Age of the Greek Republics 



of Lydia and the Greek seaboard by Cyrus extended the Per- 
sian Empire to the Mediterranean. The conquest of Phoenicia 
and Cyprus by Cambyses added the Phoenician navy to the 
_ - resources of the mighty 

empire. Persia had now 
become a sea power, able 
to cope with the Greeks 
on their own element. 
The subjection of Egypt 
by the same king led nat- 
urally to the annexation 
of the Greek colonies on 
the north African shore. 
The entire coast of the 
eastern Mediterranean 
had now come under the 
control of a new, power- 
ful, and hostile state. 

The accession of Da- 
rius to the Persian throne 




Persian Archers 

Louvre, Paris 

A frieze of enameled brick from the royal palace 
at Susa. It is a masterpiece of Persian art and shows 
the influence of both Assyrian and Greek design. 
Each archer carries a spear, in addition to the bow 
over the left shoulder and the quiver on the back. 
These soldiers probably served as palace guards, hence 
the fine robes worn by them. 



Conquests 
of Darius 



only in- 
creased the 
dangers that overshad- 
owed Hellas. He aimed 
to complete the work of 
Cyrus and Cambyses by 
extending the empire 
wherever a natural 
frontier had not been reached. Accordingly, about 512 B.C., 
Darius invaded Europe wdth a large army, annexed the Greek 
colonies on the Hellespont (the modern Dardanelles), and sub- 
dued the wild tribes of Thrace and Macedonia. The Persian 
dominions now touched those of the Greeks.^ 

Not long after this European expedition of Darius, the Ionian 
cities of Asia Minor revolted against the Persians. Unable to 
face their foes single-handed, they sought aid from Sparta, then 

^ See the map facing page 38. 



Expeditions of Darius against Greece 95 

the chief military power of Greece. The Spartans refused to 
take part in the war, but the Athenians, who real- ^j^^ j^^^. 
ized the menace to Greece in the Persian advance. Revolt, 
sent ships and men to light for the lonians. Even ^^^~^^^ ^•^• 
with this help the Ionian cities could not hold out against the 
vast resources of the Persians. One by one they fell again into 
the hands of the Great King. 

32. Expeditions of Darius against Greece 

No sooner was quiet restored in Asia Minor than Darius 
began preparations to punish First expedi- 
Athens for her part in the Ionian *^°^' ^^^ ^•^• 
Revolt. The first expedition under the com- 
mand of Mardonius, the son-in-law of the 
Persian monarch, was a failure. Mardonius 
never reached Greece, because the Persian 
fleet, on which his army depended for pro- 
visions, was wrecked off the promontory of 
Mount Athos. 

Darius did not abandon his designs, in con- 
sequence of the disaster. Two years later a 
second fleet, bearing a force of second expe- 
perhaps sixty thousand men, set dition, 490 
out from Ionia for Greece. ' ' 
Datis and Artaphernes, the Persian leaders, 
sailed straight across the ^Egean and landed 
on the plain of Marathon, twenty-six miles 
from Athens. 

The situation of the Athenians seemed 
desperate. They had scarcely ten thousand 
men with whom to face an battle of 
army far larger and hitherto Marathon, 
invincible. The Spartans prom- ^^® ^•^* 
ised support, but delayed sending troops at 
the critical moment. Better, perhaps, than 
a Spartan army was the genius of Miltiades, 
one of the Athenian generals. Relying on Greek discipline and 




Gravestone of 
Aristion 

National Museum, 

Athens 
Found near Marathon 
in 1838 A.D. Belongs to 
the late sixth century B.C. 
Incorrectly called the 
"Warrior of Marathon." 



g6 The Great Age of the Greek Republics 

Greek valor to win the day, he decided to take the offensive. 
His heavy-armed soldiers made a smashing charge on the Per- 
sians and drove them in confusion to their ships. Datis and 




' Greek Soldiers in Arms 

Painting on a Greek vase 

Artaphernes then sailed back to Asia with their errand of ven- 
geance unfulfilled. 

After the battle of Marathon the Athenians began to make 
Policies of preparations to resist another Persian invasion. 
Aristides and One of their leaders, the eminent Aristides, thought 

emis oc es ^-^^^ ^-^^^ should increase their army and meet the 
enemy on land. His rival, Themistocles, urged a different policy. 



.^1 




■^■^^ 



,-<e-- 






The Mound at Marathon 



Near the southern extremity of the plain of Marathon rises a conical mound, 30 feet high. 
It covers the remains of the 192 Greeks who fell in the battle. Excavations undertaken in 
1890-1891 A.D. disclosed ashes, human bones, and fragments of pwttery belonging to the era 
of the Persian wars. 

He would sacrifice the army to the navy and make Athens the 
strongest sea power in Greece. The safety of Athens, he argued, 




Xerxes and the Great Persian War 97 

lay in her ships. In order to settle the question the opposing 
statesmen were put to the test of ostracism.^ The vote went 
against Aristides, who was obliged to withdraw into exile. The- 
mistocles, now master of the situation, persuaded the citizens 
to use the revenues from some silver mines in Attica for the 
upbuilding of a fleet. When the Persians came, the Athenians 
were able to oppose them with nearly two hundred triremes ^ 
— the largest navy in Greece. 

33. Xerxes and the Great Persian War 

''Ten years after Marathon," says a Greek historian, "the 
' barbarians ' returned with the vast armament which was to en- 
slave Hellas." 3 Preparations 

Darius was now °^ Persia 0:::r:::::=: 

dead, but his son Xerxes had ^^"^^ISOQ^ t£ 

determined to complete his \ P^^ppl 

task. Vast quantities of pro- C^ 

visions were collected; the 

Hellespont was bridged with ^ Themistocles Ostrakon 

1 , 1 J 1 1 British Museum, London 

boats; and the rocky prom- 

A fragment of a potsherd found in iSg; a.d., 
OntOry of Mount AthoS, near the Acropolis of Athens. This ostrakon 

where a previous fleet had "^^^ ""^^^ ^° ''''^^ ^^^ *^^ ostracism of The- 

mistocles, either in 483 B.C. when he was 
SUnered shipwreck, was victorious against Aristides, or some ten years 
pierced with a canal An l^'er, when Themistocles was himself defeated 

and forced into exile. 

army of several hundred 

thousand men was brought together from all parts of the Great 
King's domain. He evidently intended to crush the Greeks by 
sheer weight of numbers. 

Xerxes did not have to attack a united Greece. His mighty 
preparations frightened many of the Greek states into yielding, 
when Persian heralds came to demand "earth and Greek 
water," the customary symbols of submission, preparations 
Some of the other states, such as Thebes, which was jealous of 
Athens, and Argos, equally jealous of Sparta, did nothing to 
help the loyal Greeks throughout the struggle. But Athens 
and Sparta with their alhes remained joined for resistance to 

1 See page 87. 2 See the illustration, page gg. » Thucydides, i, 18. 



98 The Great Age of the Greek Repubhcs 

the end. Upon the suggestion of Themistocles a congress of 
representatives from the patriotic states assembled at the 
isthmus of Corinth in 481 B.C. Measures of defense were taken, 
and Sparta was put in command of the alhed fleet and army. 

The campaigns of the Great Persian War have been described, 
once for all, in the glowing pages of the Greek historian, Herod- 
Battle of otus.^ Early in the year 480 B.C. the Persian host 
Thermopylse, moved out of Sardis, crossed the Hellespont, and 
' ' advanced to the pass of Thermopylae, commanding 
the entrance to central Greece. This position, one of great 
natural strength, was held by a few thousand Greeks under the 
Spartan king, Leonidas. For two days Xerxes hurled his best 
soldiers against the defenders of Thermopylae, only to find that 
numbers did not count in that narrow defile. There is no telling 
how long the handful of Greeks might have kept back the 
Persian hordes, had not treachery come to the aid of the enemy. 
A traitor Greek revealed to Xerxes the existence of an unfre- 
quented path, leading over the mountain in the rear of the pass. 
A Persian detachment marched over the trail by night and 
took up a position behind the Greeks. The latter still had time 
to escape, but three hundred Spartans and perhaps two thou- 
sand allies refused to desert their post. While Persian officers 
provided with whips lashed their unwilhng troops to battle, 
Leonidas and his men fought till spears and swords were broken, 
and hands and teeth alone remained as weapons. Xerxes at 
length gained the pass — but only over the bodies of its heroic 
defenders. Years later a monument to their memory was 
raised on the field of battle. It bore the simple inscription: 
*' Stranger, go tell the Spartans that we he here in obedience to 
their commands." ^ 

After the disaster at Thermopylae nearly all the states of 
central Greece submitted to the Persians. They marched 
After rapidly through Boeotia and Attica to Athens, 

Thermopylae ^ut found a deserted city. Upon the advice of 
Themistocles the non-combatants had withdrawn to places 
of safety, and the entire fighting force of Athens had embarked 

» See page 272. 2 Herodotus, vii, 228. 



Xerxes and the Great Persian War 



99 



on the ships. The Athenian fleet took up a position in the strait 
separating the island of Salamis from Attica and awaited the 



enemy.^ 



The battle of Salamis affords an interesting example of naval 
tactics in antiquity. The trireme was regarded as a missile to 
be hurled with sudden violence against the oppos- Battle of Bal- 
ing ship, in order to disable or sink it. A sea amis, 480 B.C. 
fight became a series of maneuvers; and victory depended as 




An Athenian Trireme (Reconstruction) 

A trireme is supposed to have had three tiers or banks of oars, 
placed one above the other. Each tier thus required an oar about a 
yard longer than the one immediately beneath it. There were about 
two himdred rowers on a trireme. 

much on the skill of the rowers and steersmen as on the bravery 

of the soldiers. The Persians at Salamis had many more ships 

than the Greeks, but Themistocles rightly believed that in the 

narrow strait their numbers would be a real disadvantage to 

them. Such proved to be the case. The Persians fought well, 

but their vessels, crowded together, could not navigate properly 

and even wrecked one another by collision. After an all-day 

contest what remained of their fleet withdrew from the strait. 

The victory at Salamis had important results. It so crippled 

the Persians that henceforth they lost command of the sea. 

Xerxes found it difficult to keep his men supplied . 

. , , . , , . After Salamis 

With provisions and at once withdrew with the. 

larger part of his force to Asia. The Great King himself had 

no heart for further fighting, but he left Mardonius, with a 

strong body of picked troops, to subjugate the Greeks on land. 

So the real crisis of the war was yet to come. 

1 See the map on page 107. 



loo The Great Age of the Greek Republics 

Mardonius passed the winter quietly in Thessaly, prepar- 
ing for the spring campaign. The Greeks in their turn made 
a final effort. A strong Spartan army, supported 
Piatsea and by the Athenians and their allies, met the Per- 
Mycaie, sians near the little town of Plataea in Boeotia. 

479 B.C. 

Here the heavy-armed Greek soldiers, with their 

long spears, huge shields, and powerful swords, easily over- 
came the enormous masses of the enemy. The success at 
Plataea showed how superior to the Persians were the Greeks 
in equipment, leadership, and fighting power. At the same 
time as this battle the remainder of the Persian fleet suffered 
a crushing defeat at Mycale, a promontory off the Ionian 
coast. These two battles really ended the war. Never again 
was Persia to make a serious effort to secure dominion over 
Continental Greece. 

The Great Persian War was much more than a conflict 
between two rival states.. It was a struggle between East 
Victorious and West; between Oriental despotism and Occi- 
Hellas dental individualism. On the one side were all 

the populous, centralized countries of Asia; on the other side, 
the small, disunited states of Greece. In the East was the 
boundless wealth, in men and money, of a world-wide empire. 
In the West were the feeble resources of a few petty commu- 
nities. Nevertheless Greece won. The story of her victory 
forms an imperishable record in the annals of human freedom. 

34. Athens under Themistocles, Aristides, and Cimon 

After the battle of Plataea the Athenians, with their wives 

and children, returned to Attica and began the restoration of 

_, . , their city, which the Persians had burned. Their 

Thenustocles -^ . n i • i 

and the forti- first care was to raise a wall so high and strong 

fication of ^-j^^^ Athens in future would be impregnable to 
Athens 

attack. Upon the suggestion of Themistocles it 

was decided to include within the fortifications a wide area 
where aU the country people, in case of another invasion, 
could find a refuge. Themistocles also persuaded the Athe- 
nians to build a massive wall on the land side of Piraeus, the 



Athens under Themistocles and Aristides loi 

port of Athens. That harbor town now became the center 
of Athenian industry and commerce. 

While the Athenians were rebuilding their city, important 
events were taking place in the iEgean. After the battle of 
Mycale the Greek states in Asia Minor and on ^ . ^.^ 

-^ . , . , Anstides and 

the islands once more rose m revolt agamst the the DeUan 
Persians. Aided by Sparta and Athens, they League, 477 
gained several successes and removed the im- 
mediate danger of another Persian attack. It was clearly 







sL. triC£Si.i''-ii— Ut Ay* jiiaMiTMli 



"Theseum" 

An Athenian temple, formerly supposed to have been constructed by Cimon to receive 
the bones of the hero Theseus. It is now believed to have been a temple of Hephaestus 
and Athena, erected about 440 B.C. The "Theseum" owes its almost perfect preserva- 
tion to the fact that during the Middle Ages it was used as a church. 

necessary, however, for the Greek cities in Asia Minor and 
the iEgean to remain in close alliance wdth the Continental 
Greeks, if they were to preserve their independence. Under 
the guidance of Aristides, the old rival of Themistocles,^ the 
allies formed a union known as the Delian League. 

The larger cities in the league agreed to provide ships and 
crews for a fleet, while the smaller cities were to make their 
contributions in money. Athens assumed the Constitution 
presidency of the league, and Athenian officials of the league 
collected the revenues, which were placed in a treasury on the 

1 See page 96. 



I02 The Great Age of the Greek Republics 

island of Delos. As head of this new federation Athens now had 
a position of supremacy in the iEgean Hke that which Sparta 
enjoyed in the Peloponnesus.^ 

The man who succeeded Themistocles and Aristides in leader- 
ship of the Athenians was Cimon, son of Miltiades, the hero 
Cimon and ^^ Marathon. While yet a youth his gallantry at 
the war the battle of Salamis gained him a great reputation, 

against Persia ^^^ ^^^^^ Aristides introduced him to public hf e 
the citizens welcomed him gladly. He soon became the head of 
the aristocratic or conservative party in the Athenian city. To 
Cimon the Delian League intrusted the continuation of the war 
with Persia. The choice was fortunate, for Cimon had inherited 
his father's mihtary genius. No man did more than he to hum- 
ble the pride of Persia. As the outcome of Cimon's successful 
campaigns the southern coast of Asia Minor was added to the 
DeHan League, and the Greek cities at the mouth of the Black Sea 
were freed from the Persian yoke. Thus, with Cimon as its leader, 
the confederacy completed the liberation of the Asiatic Greeks. 

While the Greeks were gaining these victories, the character 

of the Delian League was being transformed. Many of the 

The Delian cities, instead of furnishing ships, had taken the 

League be- easier course of making all their contributions in 

comes sub- 

ject to Athens, money. The change really played into the hands 

about 454 B.C. ^f Athens, for the tribute enabled the Athenians 
to build the ships themselves and add them to their own na\^. 
They soon had a fleet powerful enough to coerce any city that 
failed to pay its assessments or tried to withdraw from the league. 
Eventually the common treasure was transferred from Delos to 
Athens. The date of this event (454 B.C.) may be taken as mark- 
ing the formal establishment of the Athenian naval empire. 

Sparta and her Peloponnesian allies viewed with growing 
Decline of jealousy the rapid rise of Athens. As long, how- 
Cimon's ever, as Cimon remained at the head of Athenian 

affairs, there was little danger of a break with 
Sparta. He desired his city to keep on good terms with her 
powerful neighbor: Athens should be mistress of the seas, and 

1 See page 83. 



I 



Athens under Pericles 



103 



Sparta should be mistress on the mainland. A contest between 
them, Cimon foresaw, would work lasting injury to all Greece. 
Cimon's pro-Spartan attitude brought him, however, into 
disfavor at Athens, and he was ostracized. New men and 
new policies henceforth prevailed in the Athenian state. 

35. Athens under Pericles 

The ostracism of Cimon deprived the aristocrats of their 
most prominent representative. It was possible for the demo- 
cratic or liberal party to 
assume complete control 
of public affairs. Pericles, their leader 
and champion, was a man of studious 
habits. He never appeared on the 
streets except when walking between his 
house and the popular assembly or the 
market place, kept rigidly away from 
dinners and drinking bouts, and ruled 
his household with strict economy that 
he might escape the suspicion of enrich- 
ing himself at the public expense. He 
did not speak often before the people, 
but came forward only on special occa- 
sions; and the rarity of his utterances 
gave them added weight. Pericles was a 
thorough democrat, but he used none of 
the arts of the demagogue. He scorned 
to flatter the populace. His power over 
the people rested on his majestic elo- 
quence, on his calm dignity of demeanor, 
and above all on his unselfish devotion to the welfare of Athens. 

The period, about thirty years in length, between the ostra- 
cism of Cimon and the death of Pericles, forms the ^ ^^ pgj^_ 
most brilliant epoch in Greek history. Under the cies, 461-429 
guidance of Pericles the Athenian naval empire ' ' 
reached its widest extent. 




Pericles 

British Museum, London 
The bust is probably a good 
copy of a portrait statue set up 
during the Hfetime of Pericles 
on the Athenian Acropolis. 
The helmet possibly indicates 
the office of General held by 
Pericles. 



a complete democracy. 



Through his direction Athens became 
Inspired by him the Athenians came to 



I04 The Great Age of the Greek Republics 

manifest that love of knowledge, poetry, art, and all beautiful 
things which, even more than their empire or their democracy, 
has made them famous in the annals of mankind. The Age 
of Pericles affords, therefore, a convenient opportunity to set 
forth the leading features of Athenian civilization in the days 
of its greatest glory. 

Athens under Pericles ruled more than two hundred towns 
and cities in Asia Minor a^d the islands of the JEgesm Sea.^ 
Athenian The subjects of Athens, in return for the protection 

imperialism ^j^g^^ g|-^g gave themi against Persia, owed many 
obligations. They paid an annual tribute and furnished soldiers 
in time of war. In all legal cases of importance the citizens had 
to go to Athens for trial by Athenian courts. The Delian com- 
munities, in some instances, were forced to endure the presence 
of Athenian garrisons and officers. To the Greeks at large all 
this seemed nothing less than high-handed tyranny. Athens, 
men felt, had built up an empire on the ruins of Hellenic liberty. 

If the Athenians possessed an empire, they themselves were 
citizens of a state more democratic than any other that has 
Nature of the existed, before or since, in the history of the world. 
Athenian They had now learned how unjust was the rule of 

emocracy ^ tyrant or of a privileged class of nobles. They 
tried, instead, to afford every one an opportunity to make the 
laws, to hold office, and to administer justice. Hence the 
Athenian popular assembly and law courts w^re open to all 
respectable citizens. The offices, also, were made very nu- 
merous — fourteen hundred in all — so that they might be 
distributed as widely as possible. Most of them were annual, 
and some could not be held twice by the same person. Elec- 
tion to office was usually by lot. This arrangement- did away 
with favoritism and helped to give the poor man a chance in 
politics, as well as the man of wealth or noble birth. 

The center of Athenian democracy was the Assembly. Its mem- 
The bership included every citizen who had reached 

Assembly twenty years of age. Rarely, however, did the at- 
tendance number more than five thousand, since most of the 

1 See the map facing page io8. 



Athens under Pericles 



105 



citizens lived outside the walls in the country districts of Attica. 
Forty regular meetings were held every year. These took place 
on the slopes of the hill called the Pnyx. A speaker before the 
Assembly faced a difficult audience. It was ready to yell its dis- 
approval of his advice, to mock him if he mispronounced a 
word, or to drown his voice with shouts and whistles. Natu- 



K^clNTt: ; ^ 'Jv £ \ KA'( TO I Al 
llAl"AE4^i5nPYTANEYENEoKi 



p'\0 
A^OsCEPE 

e:i 

'<' e 



I AEXg A^, AMMA TE YE A AM Q A Ei/ 

iE^T/A^Bf^''AH/- r'A£E \ f;E^! 
!dn;€<AOEN/^A: ' ■ 

TA-.A.'.P"i 
EMTN 




An Athenian Inscription 

A decree of the Assembly, dating from about 450 B.C. 

rally, the debates became a training school for orators. No one 
could make his mark in the Assembly who was not a clear and in- 
teresting speaker. Voting was by show of hands, except in cases 
affecting individuals, such as ostracism, when the ballot w^as used. 
Whatever the decision of the Assembly, it was final. This great 
popular gathering settled questions of war and peace, sent out 
military and naval expeditions, voted public expenditures, and 
had general control over the affairs of Athens and the empire. 

The Assembly was assisted in the conduct of public business 
by many officers and magistrates, among whom the Ten Gen- 
erals held the leading place. It was their duty to The Ten 
guide the deliberations of the Assembly and to Generals 
execute the orders of that body. 

There was also a system of popular jury courts composed of 
citizens selected by lot from the candidates who The jury 
presented themselves. The number of jurors courts 
varied; as many as a thousand might serve at an important 



io6 The Great Age of the Greek Republics 

trial. A court was both judge and jury; it decided by majority 

vote; and from its decision lay no appeal. Before these courts 

public officers accused of wrong-doing were tried; disputes 

between different cities of the empire and other important 

cases were settled; and all ordinary legal business affecting 

the Athenians themselves was transacted. Thus, even in 

matters of law, the Athenian government w^as completely 

democratic. 

Democracy then, reached its height in ancient Athens. The 

people ruled, and they ruled directly. Every citizen had some 

^ active part in pohtics. Such a system worked 
Strength and „ . , „ 

weakness of well m the management of a small city-state like 

the Athenian Athens. But if the Athenians could govern them- 
democracy ^ 

selves, they proved unable to govern an empire 

with justice and wisdom. There was no such thing as represen- 
tation in their constitution. The subject cities had no one to 
speak for them in the Assembly or before the jury courts. 
We shall notice the same absence of a representative system 
in repubhcan Rome.^ 

A large number of Athenians were relieved from the necessity 
of working for themselves through the system of state pay 
System of • introduced by Pericles. Jurors, soldiers, and 
state pay sailors received money for their services. Later, 

in the fourth century, citizens accepted fees for attending the 
Assembly. These payments, though small, enabled poor citizens 
to devote much time to public duties. 

Athens contained many skilled workmen whose daily tasks 
gave them scant opportunity to engage in the exciting game of 
Industrial politics. The average rate of wages was very low. 
Athens jj^ spite of cheap food and modest requirements 

for clothing and shelter, it must have been difficult for the 
laborer to keep body and soul together. Outside of Athens, in 
the country districts of Attica, lived the peasants whose Uttle 
farms produced the olives, grapes, and figs for which Attica was 
celebrated. 

There v/ere many thousands of slaves in Athens and Attica 

1 See page 155. 



li 



Athens under Pericles 



107 



at this period. Their number was so great and their labor so 

cheap that we may think of them as taking the 

place of modern machines. It was the slaves who 

did most of the work on the large estates owned by wealthy men, 




The Vicinity of Athens 

who toiled in the mines and quarries, and who served as oarsmen 
on the ships. The system of slavery enabled many an Athenian 
to live a life of leisure, but it lowered the dignity of labor and 
tended to prevent the rise of the poorer citizens to positions of 
responsibihty. In Greece, as in the Orient,^ slavery cast its 
blight over free industry. 

The Athenian city was now the chief center of Greek com- 
merce.2 "The fruits of the whole earth," said Pericles, "flow 
in upon us; so that we enjoy the goods of other Commercial 
countries as freely as of our own." ^ Exports of Athens 
wine and olive oil, pottery, metal wares, and objects of art 
were sent out from Piraeus to every region of the Mediterra- 
nean. The imports from the Black Sea region, Thrace, and 

1 See page 44. 

2 The commercial importance of Athens is indicated by the general adoption of 
her monetary standard by the other Greek states. (For illustrations of Greek coins 
see the plate facing page 134.) ' Thucydides, ii, 38. 



io8 The Great Age of the Greek Republics 

the ^gean included such commodities as saU, dried fish, wool, 
timber, hides, and, above all, great quantities of wheat. Very 
much as modern England, Athens was able to feed all her people 
only by bringing in food from abroad. To make sure that in 
time of war there should be no interruption of food supplies, 
the Athenians built the celebrated Long Walls, between the 
city and its port of Piraeus.^ Henceforth they felt secure from 
attack, as long as their na\y ruled the ^gean. 

In the days of her prosperity Athens began to make herself 
not only a strong, but also a beautiful, city. The temples and 
Artistic and Other Structures which were raised on the Acropolis 
intellectual during the Age of Pericles still excite, even in their 
ruins, the envy and wonder of mankind.^ Athens 
at this time was also the center of Greek intellectual life. In no 
other period of similar length have so many admirable books 
been produced. No other epoch has given birth to so many 
men of varied and delightful genius. The greatest poets, his- 
torians, and philosophers of Greece were Athenians, either by 
birth or training. As Pericles himseh said in a noble speech, 
Athens was "the school of Hellas." ^ 

36. The Peloponnesian War, 431-404 B.C. 

The brilliant Age of Pericles had not come to an end before 
the two chief powers in the Hellenic world became involved in a 
Inevitable- deadly war. It would seem that Athens and 
ness of the Sparta, the one supreme upon the sea, the other at 
the head of the Peloponnesus, might have avoided 
a struggle which was sure to be long and costly. But Greek 
cities WTre always ready to fight one another. When Athens and 
Sparta found themselves rivals for the leadership of Greece, it 
was easy for the smouldering fires of distrust and jealousy to 
flame forth into open conflict. ''And at that time," says 
Thucydides, the Athenian historian who described the struggle, 
"the youth of Sparta and the youth of Athens were numerous; 

1 See the map, page 107. 

2 For a description of ancient Athens see pages 288-292. 

3 Thucydides, ii, 41. 



] 



The Peloponnesian War 



109 



they hstd never seen war, and were therefore very wiUing to 
take up arms." ^ 

The conflict was brought on by Corinth, one of the leading 
members of the Peloponnesian League and, next to Athens, the 
most important commercial power in Greece. Origin of the 
She had aheady seen her once-profitable trade in ^^ 
the iEgean monopolized by Athens. That energetic city was 
now reaching out for Corinthian 
commerce in Italian and Sicilian 
waters. When the Athenians 
went so far as to interfere in a 
quarrel between Corinth and her 
colony of Corcyra, even allying 
themselves with the latter city, 
the Corinthians felt justly resent- 
ful and appealed to Sparta for aid. 
The Spartans listened to their 
appeal and, with the apparent 
approval of the Delphic oracle 
which assured them "that they 
would conquer if they fought with 
all their might," ^ declared war. 

The two antagonists were fairly 
matched. The one was strong 
where the other was 
weak. Sparta, 
mainly a continental 
power, commanded all the Pelo- 
ponnesian states except Argos and Achaea, besides some of the 
smaller states of central Greece. Athens, mainly a maritime 
power, ruled all the subject cities of the JEgesiU. The Spartans 
possessed the most formidable army then in the world, but 
lacked money and ships. The Athenians had a magnificent 
navy, an overflowing treasury, and a city impregnable to di- 
rect attack. It seemed, in fact, as if neither side could 
seriously injure the other. 

1 Thucydides, ii, 8. 2 Thucydides, i, ii8. 




Resources of 
the contest- 
ants 



The "Mourning Athena" 

Acropolis Museum, Athens 
A tablet of Pentelic marble. Athena, 
leaning on her spear, is gazing with 
downcast head at a grave monument. 



no The Great Age of the Greek Republics 



The war began in 431 B.C. Its first stage was indecisive. 
The Athenians avoided a conflict in the open field with 
First stage of ^^^ stronger Peloponnesian army, which ravaged 
the war, Attica. They were crippled almost at the outset 

* * of the struggle by a terrible plague among the 
refugees from Attica, crowded behind the Long Walls. The pes- 
tilence slew at least one-fourth of the 
inhabitants of Athens, including Pericles 
himself. After ten years of fighting both 
sides grew weary of the war and made a 
treaty of peace to last for fifty years. 

Not long after the conclusion of peace 
the Athenians were persuaded by a 
The SicUian brilliant and ambitious 
Expedition, pohtician, named Alcibiades, 

415-413 B.C. ^ A 4. ^ jv 

to undertake an expedition 
against Syracuse in Sicily. This city 
was a colony of Corinth, and hence was a 
natural ally of the Peloponnesian states. 
The Athenians, by conquering it, ex- 
pected to establish their power in Sicily. 
But the siege of Syracuse ended in a com- 
plete failure. The Athenians failed to 
capture the city, and in a great naval 
battle they lost their fleet. Then they 
tried to retreat by land, but soon had 
to surrender. Many of the prisoners 
were sold as slaves; many were thrown by their inhuman cap- 
tors into the stone quarries near Syracuse, where they perished 
from exposure and starvation. The Athenians, says Thucyd- 
ides, "were absolutely annihilated — both army and fleet — 
and of the many thousands who went away only a handful ever 
saw their homes again." ^ 

Athens never recovered from this terrible blow. The Spartans 
quickly renewed the contest, now with the highest hopes of 
success. The Athenians had to guard their city against the 

1 Thucydides, vii, 87. 




A Silver Coin of 
Syracuse 

The profile of the nymph 
Arethusa has been styled the 
most exquisite Greek head 
known to us. 



The Spartan and Theban Supremacies iii 

invader- night and day; their slaves deserted to the enemy; 
and they themselves could do no farming except ^^^^ ^^ ^^ 
under the walls of the city. For supplies they had the war, 
to depend entirely on their ships. For nearly ten ' * 

years, however, the Athenians kept up the struggle. At length 
the Spartans captured an Athenian fleet near ^Egospotami on 
the Hellespont. Soon afterwards they blockaded Piraeus and 
their army encamped before the walls of Athens. Bitter fam- 
ine compelled the Athenians to sue for peace. The Spartans 
imposed harsh terms. The Athenians were obliged to destroy 
their Long Walls and the fortifications of Pirasus, to surren- 
der all but twelve of their warships, and to acknowledge the 
supremacy of Sparta. 

37. The Spartan and Theban Supremacies, 
404-362 B.C. 

Sparta was now the undisputed leader of Continental Greece 
and of the i^^gean. As the representative of the Hberty-loving 
Greeks she had humbled the pride and power of Spartan des- 
*' tyrant" Athens. A great opportunity lay before po^sm 
her to reorganize the Hellenic world and to end the struggles for 
supremacy between rival cities. But Sparta entered upon no 
such glorious career. She had always stood as the champion of 
aristocracy against democracy, and now in her hour of triumph 
she began to overturn every democratic government that still 
existed in Greece. The Greek cities soon found they had ex- 
changed the mild sway of Athens for the brutal despotism of 
Sparta. 

But Spartan despotism provoked resistance. It was the 
Boeotian city of Thebes which raised the standard of revolt. 
Some of the liberty-loving Thebans, headed by ^^^ freeing 
Pelopidas, a patriotic noble, formed a conspiracy of Thebes, 
to drive the Spartans out of the city. Disguised * ' 

as huntsmen, Pelopidas and his followers entered Thebes at 
nightfall, killed the tyrants whom Sparta had set over the people, 
and forced the Spartan garrison to surrender. 

The Thebans had now recovered their independence. Eight 



112 The Great Age of the Greek RepubHcs 

years later they totally defeated a superior Peloponnesian force 
Battle of ^^ ^^^ battle of Leuctra and brought the suprem- 

Leuctra, 371 acy of Sparta to an end. This engagement from a 

military standpoint is one of the most interesting in 
ancient history. Epaminondas, the skilful Theban commander, 
massed his best troops in a solid column, fifty men deep, and 
hurled it with terrific force against the Spartan ranks. The 
enemy, drawn up twelve men deep in the customary formation, 
could not withstand the impact of the Theban column; their lines 
gave way, and the fight was soon won. The battle destroyed 
once for all the legend of Spartan invincibility. 

The sudden rise of Thebes to the position of the first city in 
Greece was the work of tw^o men whose names are always linked 
Peiopidas together in the annals of the time. In Pelopidas 

and Epami- and Epaminondas, bosom friends and colleagues, 

Thebes found the heroes of her struggle for inde- 
pendence. Pelopidas was a fiery warrior whose bravery and 
daring won the hearts of his soldiers. Epaminondas was both 
an able general and an eminent statesman. No other Greek, 
save perhaps Pericles, can be compared with him. Even 
Pericles worked for Athens alone and showed no regard for the 
rest of Greece. Epaminondas had nobler ideals and sought the 
general good of the Hellenic race. He fought less to destroy 
Sparta than to curb that city's power of doing harm. He aimed 
not so much to make Thebes mistress of an empire as to give 
her a proper place among Greek cities. The Thebans, indeed, 
sometimes complained that Epaminondas loved Hellas more 
than his native city. 

By crippling Sparta, Epaminondas raised Thebes to a posi- 
tion of supremacy. Had he been spared for a longer service, 
Battle of Epaminondas might have realized his dream of 

Man tinea, bringing unity and order into the troubled politics 
^ ^ ' * of his time. But circumstances were too strong 

for him. The Greek states, which had accepted the leadership 
of Athens and Sparta, were unwilling to admit the claims of 
Thebes to a position of equal power and importance. The 
period of Theban rule was filled, therefore, with perpetual 



Decline of the City-State 113 

conflict. Nine years after Leuctra Epaminondas himself fell in 
battle at Mantinea in the Peloponnesus, and with his death 
ended the brief glory of Thebes. 

38. Decline of the City-State 

The battle of Mantinea proved that no single city — Athens, 
Sparta, or Thebes — was strong enough to rule Greece. By 
the middle of the fourth century B.C. it had be- Weakness of 
come evident that a great Hellenic power could the city- 
not be created out of the little, independent city- 
states of Greece. 

The history of Continental Hellas for more than a century 
after the close of the Persian War had been a record of almost 
ceaseless conflict. We have seen how Greece came ^ record of 
to be split up into two great alliances, the one a almost cease- 
naval league ruled by Athens, the other a confed- ®^^ *^°° ^ 
eracy of Peloponnesian cities under the leadership of Sparta. 
How the Delian League became the Athenian Empire; how 
Sparta began a long war with Athens to secure the independ- 
ence of the subject states and ended it by reducing them to her 
own supremacy; how the rough-handed sway of Sparta led to 
the revolt of her allies and dependencies and the sudden rise 
of Thebes to supremacy; how Thebes herself estabhshed an 
empire on the ruins of Spartan rule — this is a story of fruitless 
and exhausting struggles which sounded the knell of Greek 
liberty and the end of the city-state. 

Far away in the north, remote from the noisy conflicts of 

Greek political life, a new power was slowly rising to imperial 

greatness — no insiornificant city-state, but an ^, , 

• . . , ,.,1 r 1 The future 

extensive territorial state like those of modern 

times. Three years after the battle of Mantinea Philip II 
ascended the throne of Macedonia. He established Hellenic 
unity by bringing the Hellenic people within a widespread 
empire. Alexander the Great, the son of this king, car- 
ried Macedonian dominion and Greek culture to the ends 
of the known world. To this new period of ancient history 
we now turn. 



114 The Great Age of the Greek Republics 

studies 

I. On an outline map indicate the principal places mentioned in this chapter. 
2. On an outline map indicate the Athenian allies and dependencies and those of 
Sparta at the opening of the Peloponnesian War. 3. What do you understand by 
a "decisive" battle? Why has Marathon been considered such a battle? 4. Why 
did Xerxes take the longer route through Thrace, instead of the shorter route fol- 
lowed by Datis and Artaphernes? 5. What was the importance of the Phoenician 
fleet in the Persian invasions? 6. What reasons can be given for the Greek vic- 
tory in the struggle against Persia? 7. Distinguish between a confederacy and an 
empire. 8. Compare the relations of the Dehan subject cities to Athens with those 
of British colonies, such as Canada and Australia, to England. 9. What do you 
understand by representative government? 10. If the Athenian Empire could have 
rested on a representative basis, why would it have been more Ukely to endure? 
II. How far can the phrase "government of the people, bj^ the people, for the people" 
be applied to the Athenian democracy? 12. Did the popular assembly of Athens 
have any resemblance to a New England town meeting? 13. Compare the Athenian 
jury system with that of England and the United States. 14. The Athenian de- 
mocracy of the time of Pericles has been described as a pure democracy and not, like 
the Ara^x'icdin, Si?, Si representative dtmoa:a.cy. In what lies the difference? 15. Can 
you suggest any objections to the system of state pay introduced by Pericles? To 
what extent do we employ the same system xmder our government? 16. WTiat 
conditions of the time help to explain the contempt of the Greeks for money-making? 
17. Trace on the map, page 107, the Long Walls of Athens. 18. Why has the Pelo- 
ponnesian War been called an "irrepressible conflict"? Why has it been called the 
"suicide of Greece"? 19. What states of the Greek mainland were neutral in the 
Peloponnesian War (map facing page 108)? 20. Contra:5t the resources of the con- 
tending parties. W'here was each side weak and where strong? 21. Why was the 
tyranny of Sparta more oppressive than that of Athens? 22. What were the reasons 
for the failure of the Athenian, Spartan, and Theban attempts at empire? 



CHAPTER VI 
MINGLING OF EAST AND WEST AFTER 359 B.C.* 



39. Philip and the Rise of Macedonia 

The land of Macedonia, lying to the north of Greece, for a 
long time had been an inconspicuous part of the ancient world. 
Its people, though only partially civilized, were Macedonia 
Greeks in blood and language. No doubt they and the 
formed an offshoot of those northern invaders ^^® omans 
who had entered the Balkan peninsula before the dawn of 
history. The Macedonian kings, 
from the era of the Persian wars, 
seized every opportunity of spread- 
ing Greek culture throughout their 
realm. By the middle of the 
fourth century B.C., when Philip II 
ascended the throne, the Macedo- 
nians were ready to take a leading 
place in the Greek world. 

Philip of Macedonia, one of the 
most remarkable men of antiquity, 
was endowed with a 
vigorous body, a keen 
mind, and a resolute will. He was no stranger to Greece and 
its ways. Part of his boyhood had been passed as a hostage 
at Thebes in the days of Theban glory. His residence there 
gave him an insight into Greek politics and taught him the art 
of war as it had been perfected by Epaminondas. In the dis- 
tracted condition of Greece, worn out by the rivalries of con- 
tending cities, PhiHp saw the opportunity of his own country, 

1 Webster, Readings in Ancient History, chapter xii, "Demosthenes and the 
Struggle against Philip"; chapter xiii, "Exploits of Alexander the Great." 

"5 




Philip's aims 



Philip II 

From a gold medallion struck by 
Alexander. 



ii6 Mingling of East and West 

He aimed to secure for Macedonia the position of supremacy 
which neither Athens, Sparta, nor Thebes had been able to 
maintain. 

Philip's most important achievement was the creation of the 
Macedonian army, which he led to the conquest of Greece and 
The Mace- which his son was to lead to the conquest of the 
donian army world. Taking a hint from the tactics of Epam-* 
inondas, Philip trained his infantry to fight by columns, but 
with sufiicient intervals between the files to permit quick and 
easy movements. Each man bore an enormous lance, eighteen 
feet in length. When this heavy phalanx was set in array, the 
weapons carried by the soldiers in the first five ranks presented 
a bristling thicket of lance-points, which no onset, however 
determined, could penetrate. The business of the phalanx was 
to keep the front of the foe engaged, while horsemen rode into 
the enemy's flanks. This reliance on masses of cavalry to win 
a victory was something new in warfare. Another novel feature 
consisted in the use of engines called catapults, able to throw 
darts and huge stones three hundred yards, and of battering 
rams with force enough to hurl down the walls of cities. All 
these different arms working together made a war machine of 
tremendous power — the most formidable in the ancient world 
until the days of the Roman legion. 

Philip commanded a fine army; he ruled with absolute sway 
a territory larger than any other Hellenic state; and he himself 
Conquests possessed a genius for both war and diplomacy. 
of Philip With such advantages the Macedonian king en- 

tered on the subjugation of disunited Greece. His first great 
success was won in western Thrace. Here he founded the city 
of Philippi ^ and seized some rich gold mines, the income from 
which enabled him to keep his soldiers always under arms, to 
fit out a fleet, and, by means of liberal bribes, to hire a crowd 
■of agents in nearly every Greek city. Philip next made Mace- 
donia a maritime state by subduing the Greek cities on the 
peninsula of Chalcidice.^ He also appeared in Thessaly, occu- 

1 Philippi became noted afterwards as the first city in Europe where Christianity 
■was preached. See Acts, xvi, 9. 2 ggg ^-j^g j^^p between pages 68-69. 



Demosthenes and the End of Greek Freedom 117 



pied its principal fortresses, and brought the frontier of Mace- 
donia as far south as the pass of Thermopylas. 

40. Demosthenes and the End of Greek Freedom 

Philip for many years had been steadily extending his sway 
over Greece. In the face of his en- 
croachments would Athens, Demosthe- 
Sparta, and Thebes, so nes, 384-322 
long the leading cities, sub- 
mit tamely to this Macedonian con- 
queror? There was one man, at least, 
who realized the menace to Greek free- 
dom from Philip's onward march. In 
Demosthenes Greece found a champion 
of her threatened liberties. 

Demosthenes was the last, as wtII as 
the most famous, of the great Athenian 
orators. When he first be- Demosthenes 
gan to speak, the citizens as an orator 
laughed at his long, in- ^^ ^ ^^ "° 
volved sentences, over-rapid delivery, 
and awkward bearing. Friends encour- 
aged him to persist, assuring him that, 
if the manner of his speeches was bad, 
their matter was worthy of Pericles. 
Numerous stories are told of the efforts 
made by Demosthenes to overcome his 
natural defects. He practiced gestur- 
ing before a mirror and, to correct a 
stammering pronunciation, recited verses 
with pebbles in his mouth. He would 
go down to the seashore during storms 
and strive to make his voice heard 
above the roar of wind and waves, in 
order the better to face the boisterous 
Assembly. Before long he came to^be '^°"^^'- 
regarded as the prince of speakers even in the city of orators. 




iiiiiii! 

Demosthenes 

Vatican Museum, Rome 

A marble statue, probably a 
copy of the bronze original by 
the sculptor Polyeuctus. The 
work, when found, was consid- 
erably mutilated and has been 
restored in numerous parts. 
Both forearms and the hands 
holding the scroll are modern 
additions. It seems likely that 
the original Athenian statue 
showed Demosthenes with 
tightly clasped hands, which, 
with his furrowed visage and 
contracted brows, were ex- 
pressive of the orator's ear- 
nestness and concentration of 



ii8 Mingling of East and West 

Demosthenes was a man cast in the old heroic mold. His pa- 
triotic imagination had been fired by the great deeds once ac- 
complished by free Greeks. Athens he loved with passionate 
devotion. Let her remember her ancient glories, he urged, and, 
by withstanding Philip, become the leader of Hellas in a second 
war for liberty. 

The stirring appeals of the great orator at first had little 
effect. There were many friends of Philip in the Greek states. 
Last struggle even in Athens itself. When, however, Philip 
of the Greeks entered central Greece and threatened the inde- 
pendence of its cities, the eloquence of Demosthenes met a 
readier response. In the presence of the common danger 
Thebes and Athens gave up their ancient rivalry and formed a 
defensive alliance against Philip. Had it been joined by Sparta 
and the other Peloponnesian states, it is possible that their 
united power might have hurled back the invader. But they 
held aloof. 

The decisive battle was fought at Chaeronea in Boeotia. On 
that fatal field the well-drilled and seasoned troops of Mace- 
Battle of donia, headed by a master of the art of war, over- 
Chaeronea, came the citizen levies of Greece. The Greeks 

338 B C 

fought bravely, as of old, and their defeat was 
not inglorious. Near the modern town of Chaeronea the traveler 
can still see the tomb where the fallen heroes were laid, and 
the marble lion set up as a memorial to their dauntless 
struggle. 

Chaeronea gave Phihp the undisputed control of Greece. 
But now that victory was assured, he had no intention of 
PhUip's policy playing the tyrant. He compelled Thebes to 
as conquerer admit a Macedonian garrison to her citadel, but 
treated Athens so mildly that the citizens were glad to conclude 
with him a peace which left their possessions untouched. Philip 
entered the Peloponnesus as a liberator. Its towns and cities 
welcomed an alliance with so powerful a protector against 
Sparta. 

Having completely realized his design of establishing Macedo- 
nian rule over Greece, Philip's restless energy drove him forward 



Alexander the Great 



119 



Corinth, 
337 B.C. 



to the next step in his ambitious program. He determined to 
carry out the plans, so long cherished by the congress at 
Greeks, for an invasion of Asia Minor and, perhaps, 
of Persia itself. In the year 337 B.C. a congress of 
all the Hellenic states met at Corinth under Philip's presidency. 
The delegates voted to sup- 
ply ships and men for the 
great undertaking and placed 
Philip in command of the al- 
lied forces. A Macedonian 
king was to be the captain- 
general of Hellas. 

But Philip was destined 
never to lead an army across 
the Hellespont. Death of 
Less than two PhUip, 

r ^ 336 B.C. 

years alter 
Chaeronea he was killed by 
an assassin, and the scepter 
passed to his young son, 
Alexander. 




41. Alexander the Great 



Alexander 

Glyptothek, Munich 



Probably an authentic portrait of the youth- 
ful Alexander about 338 B.C. 



Alexander was only twenty 
years of age when he became 
ruler of Macedonia. From his father he inherited the power- 
ful frame, the kingly figure, the masterful will, ^^^ youthful 
which made so deep an impression on all his con- Alexander, 
temporaries. His mother, a proud and ambitious woman, 
told him that the blood of Achilles ran in his veins, and 
bade him emulate the deeds of that national hero. We 
know that he learned the Iliad by heart and always carried a 
copy of it on his campaigns. As he came to manhood, Alex- 
ander developed into a splendid athlete, skillful in all the sports 
of his rough-riding companions, and trained in every warlike 
exercise. 

Philip believed that in Alexander he had a worthy son, for 



I20 Mingling of East and West 

he persuaded Aristotle/ the most learned man in Greece, 
Education of ^^ become the tutor of the young prince. The 
Alexander by influence of that philosopher remained with Alex- 
Aristotle ^^^gj. throughout life. Aristotle taught him to 
love Greek art and science, and instilled into his receptive 
mind an admiration for all things Grecian. Alexander used to 
say that, while he owed his life to his father, he owed to Aris- 
totle the knowledge of how to live worthily. 

The situation which Alexander faced on his accession might 
well have dismayed a less dauntless spirit. Philip had not 
Alexander lived long enough to unite firmly his wide domin- 
crushes re- ions. His unexpected death proved the signal for 
® ^°^ uprisings and disorder. The barbarous Thracians 

broke out in widespread rebellion, and the Greeks made ready to 
answer the call of Demosthenes to arms. But Alexander soon 
set his kingdom in order. After crushing the tribes of Thrace, 
he descended on Greece and besieged Thebes, which had risen 
against its Macedonian garrison. The city was soon captured; 
its inhabitants were slaughtered or sold into slavery; and the 
place itself was destroyed. The terrible fate of Thebes in- 
duced the other states to submit without further resistance. 

With Greece pacified, Alexander could proceed to the inva- 
sion of Persia. Since the days of Darius the Great the empire 
had remained almost intact — a huge, loosely- 
strength of knit Collection of many different peoples, whose 

the Persian ^q[q bond of union was their common allegiance to 
Empire 

the Great Kmg.^ Its resources were enormous. 
There were millions of men for the armies and untold wealth 
in the royal treasuries. Yet the empire was a hollow shell. 

Some seventy years before Alexander set forth on his expedi- 
tion the Greeks had witnessed a remarkable disclosure of the 
, military weakness of Persia. One of those rare 

Expedition of , , . , , , i i • r i t^ • 

the "Ten revolts which troubled the security of the Persian 

Thousand," Empire broke out in Asia Minor. It was headed 

401-400 B.C. ^ 

by Cyrus the Younger, a brother of the Persian 
monarch. Cyrus gathered a large body of native troops and 

1 See page 275. ^ See page 39. 



Alexander the Great 



121 



also hired about ten thousand Greek soldiers. He led this 
mixed force into the heart of the Persian dominions, only to 
fall in battle at Cunaxa, near Babylon. The Greeks easily 
routed the enemy arrayed against them, but the death of 
Cyrus made their victory fruitless. In spite of their des- 




ROUTE OF THE TeN THOUSAND 

perate situation the Greeks refused to surrender and started 
to return homewards. The Persians dogged their footsteps, 
yet never ventured on a pitched battle. After months of 
wandering in Assyria and Armenia the little band of intrepid 
soldiers finally reached Trapezus,^ a Greek city on the Black 
Sea. 

The story of this invasion of Persia and the subsequent re- 
treat was written by the Athenian Xenophon ^ in his Anabasis. 
It is one of the most interesting books that have significance of 
come down to us from antiquity. We can judge the expedition 
from it how vivid was the impression which the adventures of 
the ''Ten Thousand" made on the Greeks of Xenophon's time. 
A small army had marched to the center of the Persian domin- 

1 Modern Trebizond. 2 gee page 272. 



122 Mingling of East and West 

ions, had overcome a host many times its size, and had returned 
to Greece in safety. It was clear proof that the Persian power, 
howTver imposing on the outside, could offer no effective resist- 
ance to an attack by a strong force of disciplined Greek sol- 
diers. Henceforth the Greeks never abandoned the idea of an 
invasion of Persia. 

The gigantic task fell, however, to Alexander, as the cham- 
pion of Hellas against the "barbarians." With an army of less 
Alexander's than forty thousand men Alexander destroyed an 
invasion empire before which, for two centuries, all Asia 

had been wont to tremble. History, ancient or modern, con- 
tains no other record of conquests so widespread, so thorough, 
so amazingly rapid. 

42. Conquest of Persia and the Far East, 334-323 B.C. 

Alexander crossed the Hellespont in the spring of the year 
334 B.C. He landed not far from the historic plain of Troy and 
Battle of the ^^ ^^^^ began his march along the coast. Near 
Granicus,334 the little river Granicus the satraps of Asia Minor 
B C • • 

had gathered an army to dispute his passage. 

Alexander at once led his cavalry across the river in an impetu- 
ous charge, which soon sent the Persian troops in headlong 
flight. The victory cost the Macedonians scarcely a hundred 
men; but it was complete. As Alexander passed southward, 
town after town opened its gates — first Sardis, next Ephesus, 
then all the other cities of Ionia. They were glad enough to 
be free of Persian control. Within a year Asia Minor was a 
Macedonian possession. 

In the meantime Darius HI, the Persian king, had been 
making extensive preparations to meet the invader. He com- 
Battleof manded half a million men, but he followed Alex- 

Issus, 333 ander too hastily and had to fight in a narrow 
defile on the Syrian coast between the mountains 
and the sea. In such cramped quarters numbers did not count. 
The battle became a massacre, and only the approach of night 
stayed the swords of the victorious Macedonians. A great 
quantity of booty, including the mother, wife, and children of 



Conquest of Persia and the Far East 123 

Darius, fell into Alexander's hands. He treated his royal 
captives kindly, but refused to make peace with the Persian 
king. 

The next step was to subdue the Phoenician city of Tyre, the 
headquarters of Persia's naval power. The city lay on a rocky 
island, half a mile from the shore. Its fortifica- capture of 
tions rose one hundred feet above the waves. Tyre, 

332 B C 

Although the place - seemed impregnable, Alex- * * 

ander was able to capture it after he had built a mole, or cause- 




The Alexander Mosaic 

Naples Museum 

This splendid mosaic, composed of pieces of colored glass, formed the pavement of a Roman 
house at Pompeii in Italy. It represents the charge of Alexander (on horseback at the left) 
against the Persian king in his chariot, at the battle of Issus. 

way, between the shore and the island. Powerful siege engines 
then breached the walls, the Macedonians poured in, and Tyre 
fell by storm. Thousands of its inhabitants perished and thou- 
sands more were sold into slavery. The great emporium of the 
East became a heap of ruins. 

From Tyre Alexander led his ever-victorious army through 
Syria into Egypt. The Persian forces here offered httle resist- 
ance, and the Egyptians themselves welcomed Alexander 
Alexander as a deliverer. The conqueror entered ^ ^sypt 
Memphis in triumph and then sailed down the Nile to its 
western mouth, where he laid the foundations of Alexandria, a 
city which later became the metropolis of the Orient. 



124 Mingling of East and West 

Another march brought Alexander to the borders of Libya. 
Here he received the submission of Cyrene, the most important 
Alexander in Greek colony in Africa.^ Alexander's dominions 
Libya ^^gj-g ^-j^^g extended to the border of the Cartha- 

ginian possessions. It was at this time that Alexander visited 
a celebrated temple of the god Amon, located in an oasis of the 
Libyan desert. The priests were ready enough to hail him as a 
son of Amon, as one before whom his Egyptian subjects might 
bow down and adore. But after Alexander's death his worship 
spread widely over the world, and even the Roman Senate gave 
him a place among the gods of Olympus. 

The time had now come to strike directly at the Persian 
king. Following the ancient trade routes through northern 
Battle of Ar- Mesopotamia, Alexander crossed the Euphrates 
beia, 331B.C. g^nd the Tigris and, on a broad plain not far from 
the ruins of ancient Nineveh,^ found himself confronted by the 
Persian host. Darius held an excellent position and hoped to 
crush his foe by sheer weight of numbers. But nothing could 
stop the Macedonian onset; once more Darius fled away, and 
once more the Persians, deserted by their king, broke up in 
hopeless rout. 

The battle of Arbela decided the fate of the Persian Empire. 
It remained only to gather the fruits of victory. The city of 
End of the Babylon surrendered without a struggle. Susa, 
Persian with its enormous treasure, fell into the conqueror's 

^^^^ hands. Persepolis, the old Persian capital, was 

given up to fire and sword.^ Darius himself, as he retreated 
eastward, was murdered by his own men. With the death of 
Darius the national war of Greece against Persia came to an 
end. 

The Macedonians had now overrun all the Persian provinces 
except distant Iran and India. These countries were peopled 
Conquest of by warlike tribes of a very different stamp from 
■^^^° the effeminate Persians. Alexander might well 

have been content to leave them undisturbed, but the man 

1 See page go. 2 See page 36. 

3 See John Dryden's splendid ode, Alexander's Feast. 



The Work of Alexander 125 

could never rest while there were still conquests to be made. Long 
marches and much hard fighting were necessary to subdue the 
tribes about the Caspian and the inhabitants of the countries 
now known as Afghanistan and Turkestan. 

Crossing the lofty barrier of the Hindu-Kush, Alexander led 
his weary soldiers into northwestern India, where a single 
battle added the Persian province of the Punjab ^ Conquest 
to the Macedonian possessions. Alexander then ^^ ^°^^* 
pressed forward to the conquest of the Ganges valley, but 
in the full tide of victory his troops refused to go any farther. 
They had had their fill of war and martial glory; they would 
conquer no more lands for their ambitious king. Alexander 
gave with reluctance the order for the homeward march. 

Alexander was of too adventurous a disposition to return by 
the way he had come. He resolved to reach Babylon by a new 
route. He built a navy on the Indus and had it Alexander's 
accompany the army down the river. At the return to 
mouth of the Indus Alexander dispatched the ^ yo° 
fleet under his admiral, Nearchus, to explore the Indian Ocean 
and to discover, if possible, a sea route between India and the 
West. He himself led the army, by a long and toilsome march 
through the deserts of southern Iran, to Babylon. That city 
now became the capital of the Macedonian Empire. 

Scarcely two years after his return, while he was planning 
yet more extensive conquests in Arabia, Africa, and western 
Europe, he was smitten by the deadly Babylonian j^eath of 
fever. In 323 B.C., after several days of illness, Alexander, 
the conqueror of the world passed away, being ' * 

not quite thirty-three years of age. 

43. The Work of Alexander 

Alexander the Great was one of the foremost, perhaps the 
first, of the great captains of antiquity. But he Alexander as 
was more than a world-conqueror; he was a states- warrior and 
man of the highest order. Had he been spared for ^t^t^^^^^^ 
an ordinary lifetime, there is no telling how much he might 

* See pages 20 and 39. 



126 Mingling of East and West 

have accomplished. In eleven years he had been able to subdue 
the East and to leave an impress upon it which was to endure 
for centuries. And yet his work had only begun. There were 
still lands to conquer, cities to build, untrodden regions to 
explore. Above all, it was still his task to shape his posses- 
sions into a well-knit, unified empire, which would not fall to 
pieces in the hands of his successors. His early death was 
a calamity, for it prevented the complete realization of his 
splendid ambitions. 

The immediate result of Alexander's conquests was the dis- 
appearance of the barriers which had so long shut in the Orient. 
Helienizing The East, until his day, was an almost unknown 
of the Orient land. Now it lay open to the spread of Greek 
civilization. In the wake of the Macedonian armies followed 
Greek philosophers and scientists, Greek architects and artists, 
Greek colonists, merchants, and artisans. Everywhere into 
that huge, inert, unprogressive Oriental world came the active 
and enterprising men of Hellas. They brought their arts and 
culture and became the teachers of those whom they had called 
'' barbarians." 

The ultimate result of Alexander's conquest was the fusion 
of East and West. He realized that his new empire must con- 
Fusion of ^^^^ ^ place for Oriental, as well as for Greek and 
East and Macedonian, subjects. It was Alexander's aim, 

^^ therefore, to build up a new state in which the 

distinction between the European and the Asiatic should grad- 
ually pass away. He welcomed Persian nobles to his court and 
placed them in positions of trust. He organized the govern- 
ment of his provinces on a system resembling that of Darius the 
Great.^ He trained thousands of Persian soldiers to replace the 
worn-out veterans in his armies. He encouraged by liberal 
dowries mixed marriages between Macedonians and Orientals, 
and himself wedded the daughter of the last Persian king. To 
hold his dominions together and provide a meeting place for 
both classes of his subjects, he founded no less than seventy 
cities in different parts of the empire. Such measures as these 

1 See pages 39-40- 



Hellenistic Kingdoms and Cities 



127 



show that Alexander had a mind of wide, even cosmopolitan, 
sympathies. They indicate the loss which ancient civilization 
suffered by his untimely end. 

44. Hellenistic Kingdoms and Cities 

The half century following Alexander's death is a confused 
and troubled period in ancient history. The king had left no 
legitimate son — no one with an undisputed title ^^^ ^-^^^ 
to the succession. On his deathbed Alexander had great king- 
himself declared that the realm should go "to the 
strongest." ^ It was certain, under these circumstances, that 
his possessions would become the 
prey of the leading Macedonian gen- 
erals. The unwieldy empire at length 
broke in pieces. Out of the frag- 
ments arose three great states, 
namely, Macedonia, Egypt, and 
Syria. The kingdom of Egypt was 
ruled by Ptolemy, one of Alexander's 
generals. Seleucus, another of his 
generals, established the kingdom of 
Syria. It comprised nearly all 
western Asia. These kingdoms re- 
mained independent until the era of 
Roman conquest in the East. 

Several small states also arose 
from the break-up of Alexander's empire.^ Each had its royal 
dynasty, its capital city, and its own national life, j^inoj. jn^e- 
Thus the conquests of Alexander, instead of es- pendent 
tabhshing a world-power under one ruler, led to ^*^*®^ 
the destruction of the unity of government which Persia had 
given to the East. 

More significant for the history of civilization than these 
kingdoms were the Hellenistic ^ cities, which from the time of 




A Greek Cameo 

Museum, Vienna 

Cut in sardonyx. Represents 
Ptolemy Philadelphus, king of 
Egypt, and his wife Arsinoe. 



1 Arrian, Anabasis of Alexander, vii, 26. 2 See the map facing page 128. 

3 The term "Hellenic" refers to purely Greek culture; the term "Hellenistic," 
to Greek culture as modified by contact with Oriental life and customs. 



128 Mingling of East and West 

Alexander arose in every part of the eastern world. Some 
City life in were only garrison towns in the heart of remote 
the Orient provinces or outposts along the frontiers. Many 
more, however, formed busy centers of trade and industry, and 
became seats of Greek influence in the Orient. Such cities were 
quite unlike the old Greek city-states.^ They w^re not free 
and independent, but made a part of the kingdom in which they 
were situated. The inhabitants consisted of Greeks and Mace- 
donians, comprising the governing class, together with native 
artisans and merchants who had abandoned their village homes 
for life in a metropolis. In appearance, also, these cities con- 
trasted with those of old Greece. They had broad strpets^ 
well paved and sometimes Hghted at night, enjoyed a good 
water supply, and possessed baths, theaters, and parks. 

In the third century B.C. the foremost Hellenistic city was 
Alexandria. It lay on a strip of flat, sandy land separating 

Lake Mareotis from the Mediterranean. On the 
Alexandria 

one side was the lake-harbor, connected with the 

Nile; on the other side were two sea-harbors, sheltered from 

the open sea by the long and narrow island of Pharos.^ The 

city possessed a magnificent site for commerce. It occupied 

the most central position that could be found in the ancient 

world with respect to the three continents, Africa, Asia, and 

Europe. The prosperity which this port has enjoyed for more 

than two thousand years is ample evidence of the wisdom which 

led to its foundation. 

The chief city in the kingdom of Syria was splendid and 

luxurious Antioch. It lay in the narrow valley of the Orontes 

. . , River, so close to both the Euphrates and the 

Antioch , ^ 1 . , . 1 

Mediterranean that it soon became an important 

commercial center. The city must have been a most delight- 
ful residence, with its fine cHmate, its location on a clear and 
rapid stream, and the near presence of the Syrian hills. In the 

1 See page 8i. 

2 The lighthouse on the island of Pharos was considered one of the "seven won- 
ders" of the ancient world. The others were the hanging gardens and walls of 
Babylon, the pyramids, the Colossus of Rhodes, the temple of Artemis at Ephesus, 
the mausoleum at Halicarnassus, and the statue of Zeus at Olympia. 



Hellenistic Kingdoms and Cities 



129 



sixth century a.d. repeated earthquakes laid Antioch in ruins. 

The city never recovered its prosperity, though a modern town, 

Antakia, still marks the site of the once famous capital. 

Asia Minor, during this period, contained many Hellenistic 

cities. One of the most important was Pergamum, the capital 

of a small but independent kinsjdom of the same 

. Pergamum 

name. Its rulers earned the gratitude of all the 

Greeks by their resistance to the terrible Gauls. About fifty 




The Dying Gaul 

Capitoline Museum, Rome 

The statue represents a Gaul who in battle has fallen on his sword, to avoid 
a shameful captivity. Overcome by the faintness of death he sinks upon his 
shield, his head dropping heavily forward. Though realistic, the statue shows 
nothing violent or revolting. It is a tragedy in stone. 

years after Alexander's death this barbarous people, pouring 
down from central Europe, had ravaged Greece and invaded 
Asia Minor. The kings of Pergamum celebrated their victories 
over the Gauls with so many works of architecture and sculp- 
ture that their city became the artistic rival of Athens. 

One other great Hellenistic center existed in the island city 
of Rhodes. Founded during the closing years of the Pelopon- 

nesian War, Rhodes soon distanced Athens in the „, , 

r . 1 rr^i 1 r Rhodes 

race lor commercial supremacy. The merchants of 

Rhodes framed admirable laws, especially for business affairs, 

and many of these were incorporated in the Roman code. 

Rhodes was celebrated for art. No less than three thousand 

statues adorned the streets and public buildings. It was also a 



130 Mingling of East and West 

favorite place of education for promising orators and writers. 
During Roman days many eminent men, Cicero and Julius 
Caesar among them, studied oratory at Rhodes. 

45. The Hellenistic Age 

These splendid cities in the Orient were the centers of much 
literary activity. Their inhabitants, whether Hellenic or "bar- 
Hellenistic barian," used Greek as a common language. During 
literature ^j^jg period Greek literature took on a cosmo- 

politan character. It no longer centered in Athens. Writers 
found their audiences in all lands where Greeks had settled. 
At the same time literature became more and more an affair of 
the study. The authors were usually professional bookmen 
writing for a bookish public. They produced many works of 
literary criticism, prepared excellent grammars and diction- 
aries, but wrote very little poetry or prose of enduring value. 

The Hellenistic Age was distinguished as an age of learning. 
Particularly was this true at Alexandria, where the Museum, 
The Museum founded by the first Macedonian king of Egypt, 
at Alexandria became a real university. It contained galleries of 
art, an astronomical observatory, and even zoological and bo- 
tanical gardens. The Museum formed a resort for men of learn- 
ing, who had the leisure necessary for scholarly research. The 
beautiful gardens, with their shady walks, statues, and foun- 
tains, were the haunt of thousands of students whom the fame 
of Alexandria attracted from all parts of the civilized world. 

In addition to the Museum there was a splendid library, 
which at one time contained over five hundred thousand manu- 
The Alex- Scripts — almost everything that had been written 
andrian in antiquity. The chief librarian ransacked pri- 

^ ^^^^ vate collections and purchased all the books he 

could find. Every book that entered Egypt was brought to the 
Library, where slaves transcribed the manuscript and gave a 
copy to the owner in place of the original. Before this time the 
manuscripts of celebrated works were often scarce and always 
in danger of being lost. Henceforth it was known where to look 
for them. 




LAOCOON AND HIS CHILDREN 
Vatican Museum, Rome 



A product of the art school of Rhodes (about 150 B.C.) The statue represents the 
punishment inflicted on Laocoon, a Trojan priest, together with his two sons. A pair of 
large serpents, sent by the offended gods, have seized the unhappy victims. 




VICTORY OF SAMOTHRACE 
Louvre, Paris 

1 Kotfl,. inueht in ^06 B c. The statue, which is considerably 
Commemorates a naval battle fought in 300 a.c goddess of 

The fresh ocean breeze has blown her garments back xnto tumultuous folds. 



The Hellenistic Age 131 

The Hellenistic Age was remarkable for the rapid advance of 
scientific knowledge. Most of the mathematical works of the 
Greeks date from this epoch. Euclid wrote a Scientific 
treatise on geometry which still holds its place in dAscovenes 
the schools. Archimedes of Syracuse, who had once studied at 
Alexandria, made many discoveries in engineering. A water 
screw of his device is still in use. He has the credit for finding 
out the laws of the lever. ''Give me a fulcrum on which to 
rest," he said, "and I will move the earth." The Hellenistic 
scholars also made remarkable progress in medicine. The 
medical school of Alexandria was well equipped with charts, 
models, and dissecting rooms for the study of the human body. 
During the second century of our era all the medical knowledge 
of antiquity was gathered up in the writings of Galen (born 
about 130 A.D.). For more than a thousand years Galen of 
Pergamum remained the supreme authority in medicine. 

In scientific work it seems as if the Greeks had done almost 

all that could be accomplished by sheer brain power aided only 

by rude instruments. They had no real telescopes . . 

. . ^ Ancient and 

or microscopes, no marmer s compass or cnronom- modem 

eter, and no very delicate balances. Without science 

compared 
such inventions the Greeks could hardly proceed 

much farther with their researches. Modern scientists are per- 
haps no better thinkers than were those of antiquity, but they 
have infinitely better apparatus and can make careful experi- 
ments where the Greeks had to rely on shrewd guesses. 

During the Hellenistic Age men began to gain more accurate 
ideas regarding the shape and size of the habitable globe. Such 
events as the expedition of the "Ten Thousand" ^ Extension of 
and Alexander's conquests in central Asia and India geographical 
brought new information about the countries and ^°^ ® ^^ 
peoples of the Orient. During Alexander's lifetime a Greek 
named Pytheas, starting from Massilia,^ made an adventurous 
voyage along the shores of Spain and Gaul and spent some time 
in Britain. He was probably the first Greek to visit that island. 

AH this new knowledge of East and West was soon gathered 

1 See page i20, 2 See page 89. 



132 



Mingling of East and West 




The World according to Eratosthenes, 200 B.C. 




The World according to Ptolemy, 150 A.D. 

Progress of Geographical Knowledge in Antiquity 

together by Eratosthenes, the learned librarian of Alexandria. 
Eratosthenes ^^ ^^^ ^^^ founder of scientific geography. Be- 
about 276- fore his time some students had already con- 

194 B C 

* * eluded that the earth is spherical and not flat, as 

had been taught in the Homeric poems.^ Guesses had even been 

1 See page 74. 



I 



The Graeco-Oriental World 133 

made of the size of the earth. Eratosthenes by careful measure- 
ments came within a few thousand miles of its actual circum- 
ference. Having estimated the size of the earth, Eratosthenes 
went on to determine how large was its habitable area. He 
reached the conclusion that the distance from the strait of 
Gibraltar to the east of India was about one-third of the earth's 
circumference. The remaining two-thirds, he thought, was 
covered by the sea. And with what seems a prophecy he 
remarked that, if it was not for the vast extent of the Atlantic 
Ocean, one might almost sail from Spain to India along the 
same parallel of latitude. 

The next two centuries after Eratosthenes saw the spread of 
Roman rule over Greeks and Carthaginians in the Mediterra- 
nean and over the barbarous inhabitants of Gaul, 
Britain, and Germany. The new knowledge thus 
gained was summed up in the Greek Geography by Ptolemy ^ of 
Alexandria. His famous map shows how near he came to the 
real outlines both of Europe and Asia. 

Ptolemy was likewise an eminent astronomer. He believed 

that the earth was the center of the universe and that the sun, 

planets, and fixed stars all revolved around it. The Ptoie- 

This Ptolemaic system was not overthrown until °^^^^ system 

the grand discovery of Copernicus in the sixteenth century of 

our era. 

46. The Graeco-Oriental World 

The Hellenistic Age was characterized by a general increase 
in wealth. The old Greeks and Macedonians, as a rule, had 
been content to live plainly. Now kings, nobles. The new 
and rich men began to build splendid palaces and l^^^ry 
to fill them with the products of ancient art — marbles from 
Asia Minor, vases from Athens, ItaHan bronzes, and Babylonian 
tapestries. They kept up great households with endless lords 
in waiting, ladies of honor, pages, guards, and servants. Soft 
couches and clothes of delicate fabric replaced the simple cover- 
lets and coarse cloaks of an earlier time. They possessed rich 
carpets and hangings, splendid armor and jewelry, and gold 

1 Not to be confused with King Ptolemy (page 127). 



134 Mingling of East and West 

and silver vessels for the table. The Greeks thus began to 
imitate the luxurious lives of Persian nobles. 

These new luxuries flowed in from all parts of the ancient 
world. Many came from the Far East in consequence of the 
The sea rediscovery of the sea route to India, by Alex- 

route to ander's admiral, Nearchus.^ The voyage of Near- 

chus was one of the most important results of 
Alexander's eastern conquests. It established the fact, which 
had long been forgotten, that one could reach India by a water 
route much shorter and safer than the caravan roads through 
central Asia.^ Somewhat later a Greek sailor, named Harpalus, 
found that by using the monsoons, the periodic winds which 
blow over the Indian Ocean, he could sail direct from Arabia to 
India without laboriously following the coast. The Greeks, in 
consequence, gave his name to the monsoons. 

All this sudden increase of wealth, all the thousand new en- 
joyments with which life was now adorned and enriched, did not 
Oriental in- work w^holly for good. With luxury there went, 
fluence on as always, laxity in morals. Contact with the vice 
and effeminacy of the East tended to lessen the 
manly vigor of the Greeks, both in Asia and in Europe. Hellas 
became corrupt, and she in turn corrupted Rome. 

Yet the most interesting, as well as the most important, fea- 
ture of the age is the diffusion of Hellenic culture — the ''Hel- 
Greek in- lenizing" of the Orient. It was, indeed, a changed 
fluence on the world in which men were now living. Greek cities, 
founded by Alexander and his successors, stretched 
from the Nile to the Indus, dotted the shores of the Black Sea 
and Caspian, and arose amid the wilds of central Asia. The 
Greek language, once the tongue of a petty people, grew to be 
a universal language of culture, spoken even by ''barbarian" 
lips. And the art, the science, the literature, the principles of 
politics and philosophy, developed in isolation by the Greek 
mind, henceforth became the heritage of many nations. 

Thus, in the period after Alexander the long struggle between 
East and West reached a peaceful conclusion. The distinction 

1 See page 125. 2 See page 48. 




ORIENTAL, GREEK, AND ROMAN COINS 



1. Lydian coin of about 700 B.C.; the material is electrum, a compound of gold and silver. 
2. Gold daric, a Persian coin worth about $5. 3. Hebrew silver shekel. 4. Athenian silver 
tetradrachm, showing Athena, her olive branch, and sacred owl. 5. Roman bronze as (2 cents) 
of about 217 B.C.; the symbols are the head of Janus and the prow of a ship. 6. Bronze 
sestertius (5 cents), struck in Nero's reign; the emperor, who carries a spear, is followed by a 
second horseman bearing a banner. 7. Silver deniriiis {20 cents), of about gg B.C.; it shows a 
bust of Roma and three citizens voting. 8. Gold solidus ($5), of Honorius, about 400 .\.d.; 
the emperor wears a diadem and carries a scepter. 



The Graeco-Oriental World 135 

between Greek and Barbarian gradually faded away, and the 
ancient world became ever more unified in sym- The new cos- 
pathies and aspirations. It was this mingled civili- n^opohtanism 
zation of Orient and Occident with which the Romans were 
now to come in contact, as they pushed their conquering arms 
beyond Italy into the eastern Mediterranean. 

Studies 

I. On an outline map indicate the routes of Alexander, marking the principal 
battle fields and the most important cities founded by him. Note, also, the voyage 
of Nearchus. 2. On an outline map indicate the principal Hellenistic kingdoms 
about 200 B.C. 3. Give the proper dates for (o) accession of Alexander; {b) battle 
of Issus; (c) battle of Arbela; and (d) death of Alexander. 4. In what sense 
was Chaeronea a decisive battle? 5. How is it true that the expedition of the Ten 
Thousand forms "an epilogue to the invasion of Xerxes and a prologue to the con- 
quests of Alexander"? 6. How much can you see and describe in the Alexander 
Mosaic (illustration, page 123)? 7. Compare Alexander's invasion of Persia with 
the invasion of Greece by Xerxes. 8. Distinguish between the immediate and the 
ultimate results of Alexander's conquests. 9. Comment on the following state- 
ment: "No single personality, excepting the carpenter's son of Nazareth, has done 
so much to make the world we live in what it is as Alexander of Macedon." 
10. How did the Macedonian Empire compare in size with that of Persia? With 
that of Assyria? 11. What modern countries are included within the Macedonian 
Empire under Alexander? 12. How did the founding of the Hellenistic cities con- 
tinue the earher colonial expansion of Greece? 13. Why were the Hellenistic cities 
the real "backbone" of Hellenism? 14. Why do great cities rarely develop without 
the aid of commerce? Were all the great cities in Alexander's empire of commercial 
importance? 15. Show how Alexandria has always been one of the meeting points 
between Orient and Occident. 16. How did the opening of the Suez Canal in 1869 
A.D. affect the commercial importance of Alexandria? 17. Name some of the great 
scientists of the Alexandrian age. 18. What were their contributions to knowledge? 
19. Using the maps on pages 76 and 132, trace the growth of geographical knowl- 
edge from Homer's time to that of Ptolemy. 20. What parts of the world are 
most correctly outlined on Ptolemy's map? 21. "The seed-ground of European 
civilization is neither Greece nor the Orient, but a world joined of the two." 
Comment on this statement. 



CHAPTER VII 
THE RISE OF ROME TO 264 B.C.i 

47. Italy and Sicily 

The shape of Italy is determined by the course of the Apen- 
nines. Branching off from the Alps alfthe gulf of Genoa, these 
The Apen- mountains cross the peninsula in an easterly direc- 
nines ^jqj^^ almost to the Adriatic. Here they turn 

sharply to the southeast and follow the coast for a considerable 
distance. The plains of central Italy, in consequence, are all on 
the western slope of the Apennines. In the lower part of the 
peninsula the range swerves suddenly to the southwest, so that 
the level land is there on the eastern side of the mountains. 
Near the southern extremity of Italy the Apennines separate 
into two branches, which penetrate the "heel and toe" of the 
peninsula. 

Italy may be conveniently divided into a northern, a central, 
and a southern section. These divisions, however, are deter- 
Divisions of mined by the direction of the mountains and not, 
^*^^y as in Greece, chiefly by inlets of the sea. Northern 

Italy contains the important region known in ancient times as 
Cisalpine Gaul. This is a perfectly level plain two hundred 
miles in length, watered by the Po (Fadus) , which the Romans 
called the ''king of rivers," because of its length and many 
tributary streams. Central Italy, lying south of the Apennines, 
includes seven districts, of which the three on the western 
coast — Etruria, Latium, and Campania — were most conspic- 
uous in ancient history. Southern Italy, because of its warm 
cKmate and deeply indented coast, early attracted many Greek 
colonists. Their colonies here came to be known as Magna 
Grascia, or Great Greece. 

1 Webster, Readings in Ancient History, chapter xiv, "Legends of Early Rome." 

136 



ANCIEJ«T ITALY 

AND 

SICILY 







I THE M.-N. WORKS 



Longitude 



The Peoples of Italy 137 

The triangular-shaped island of Sicily is separated from Italy 
by the strait of Messina, a channel which, at the narrowest 
part, is only two miles wide. At one time Sicily 
must have been joined to the mainland. Its 
mountains, which rise at their highest point in the majestic 
volcano of JEinsi, nearly eleven thousand feet above sea level, 
are a continuation of those of Italy. The greater part of Sicily 
is remarkably productive, containing rich grainfields and hill- 
sides green with the olive and the vine. Lying in the center 
of the Mediterranean and in the direct route of merchants 
and colonists from every direction, Sicily has always been 
a meeting place of nations. In antiquity Greeks, Cartha- 
ginians, and Romans contended for the possession of this 
beautiful island. 

On Italian history, as on that of Greece,^ we are able to trace 
the profound influence of geographical conditions. In the first 
place, the peninsula of Italy is not cut up by a influence of 
tangle of mountains into many small districts, geographical 
Hence it was easier for the Italians, than for the 
Greeks, to estabhsh one large and united state. In the second 
place, Italy, which has few good harbors but possesses fine 
mountain pastures and rich lowland plains, was better adapted 
to cattle raising and agriculture than was Greece. The Italian 
peoples, in consequence, instead of putting to sea, remained a 
conservative, home-staying folk, who were slow to adopt the 
customs of other nations. Finally, the location of Italy, with 
its best harbors and most numerous islands on the western 
coast, brought that country into closer touch with Gaul, Spain, 
and northwestern Africa than with Greece and the Orient. 
Italy fronted the barbarous West. 

48. The Peoples of Italy 

Long before the Romans built their city by the Tiber every 
part of Italy had become the home of wander- Neighbors of 
ing peoples, attracted by the mild climate and rich *^® Romans 
soil of this favored land. Two of these peoples were neighbors 

1 See page 67. 



138 



The Rise of Rome 






of the Romans — Etruscans on the north and Greeks on the 
south. 

The ancestors of the historic Etruscans were probably ^Egean 
sea-rovers who settled in the Italian peninsula before the begin- 
The Etrus- ning of the eighth century B.C. The immigrants 
^^^^ mingled with the natives and by conquest and 

colonization founded a strong power in the country to which 
_ they gave their name 

— Etruria. At one 
time the Etruscans 
appear to have ruled 
over Campania and 
also in the Po Valley 
as far as the Alps. 
Their colonies occu- 
pied the shores of 
Sardinia and Corsica. 
Their fleets swept 
the Tyrrhenian Sea. 
The Etruscans for 
several centuries 
were the leading na- 
tion in Italy. 

These Etruscans, 
like the Hittites of 
Asia Minor/ are a 
mysterious race. No 
one as yet has been able to read their language, which is quite 
Etruscan civil- unlike any Indo-European tongue. The words, 
ization however, are written in an alphabet borrowed from 

Greek settlers in Italy. Many other civilizing arts besides the 
alphabet came to the Etruscans from abroad. Babylonia gave 
to them the principle of the round arch and the practice of 
divination.2 Etruscan graves contain Egyptian seals- adorned 
with hieroglyphics and beautiful vases bearing designs from 
Greek mythology. The Etruscans were skillful workers in iron, 

1 See page 28. 2 See pages 53, 61. 



A Gr^co-Etruscan Chariot 

Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York 

The chariot was discovered in 1903 a.d., in an Etruscan 
cemetery near Rome. It dates from perhaps 600 B.C. 
Almost every part of the vehicle is covered with thin plates 
of bronze, elaborately decorated. The wheels are only two 
feet in diameter. Since the chariot is too small and delicate 
for use in warfare, we may beUeve it to have been in- 
tended for ceremonial purposes only. 



The Peoples of Italy 



139 



The Greeks 







bronze, and gold. They built their cities with massive walls, 
arched gates, paved streets, and underground drains. In the 
course of time a great part of this Etruscan civiUzation was 
absorbed in that of Rome. 

As teachers of the Romans the Etruscans were followed by 
the Greeks, About the middle of the eighth century B.C. 
Hellenic 
colonies 

began to occupy the 
coasts of Sicily and 
southern Italy. The 
earliest Greek settle- 
ment was Cumas, 
near the bay of Na- 
ples.^ It was a city 
as old as Rome itself, 
and a center from 
which Greek culture, 
including the Greek 
alphabet, spread to 
Latium. A glance at 
the map ^ shows that 
the chief Greek colo- 
nies were all on or 
near the sea, from 
Campania to the gulf 
of Tarentum. North 
of the ''heel" of Italy extends an almost harborless coast, where 
nothing tempted the Greeks to settle. North of Campania, 
again, they found the good harbors already occupied by the 
Etruscans. The Greeks, in consequence, were never able to 
make Italy a completely Hellenic land. Room was left for the 
native Italian peoples, under the leadership of Rome, to build 
up their own power in the peninsula. 

The Italians were an Indo-European people who spoke a 

1 Naples, the ancient Neapolis, was a colony of Cumae. See page 89. 

2 See the map facing page 50. 




An Etruscan Arch 

The Italian city of Volterra still preserves in the Porta 
deir Arco an interesting rehc of Etruscan times. The arch- 
way, one of the original gates of the ancient town, is about 
twenty feet in height and twelve feet in width. On the 
keystone and imposts are three curious heads, probably rep- 
resenting the guardian deities of the place. 



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140 The Rise of Rome 

language closely related, on the one side, to Greek and, on the 
The Italian Other side, to the Celtic tongues of western Europe, 
highianders They entered Italy through the Alpine passes, long 
before the dawn of history, and gradually pushed southward 

until they occupied the interior 
of the peninsula. At the be- 
ginning of historic times they 
had separated into two main 
branches. The eastern and 
central parts of Italy formed 
the home of the highianders, 
grouped in various tribes. 
Characters of the Etruscan Among them were the Um- 
Alphabet brians in the northeast, the 

About eight thousand Etruscan inscriptions SabiuCS in the Uppcr Vallcy 
are known, ahnost all being short epitaphs on ^f ^J^g Tiber, and the SamuitCS 
gravestones. In 1892 a.d. an Etruscan manu- 
script, which had been used to pack an Egyp- lU the SOUth. Still Othcr Ital- 
tian mummy, was published, but the language j^n pCOplcS OCCUpicd the pcniu- 
could not be deciphered. ir r- r- 

sula as far as Magna Graecia. 
The western Italians were known as Latins. They dwelt in 
Latium, the ''flat land" extending south of the Tiber between 
the Apennines and the Tyrrhenian Sea. Residence 
in the lowlands, where they bordered on the Etrus- 
cans, helped to make the Latins a civilized people. Their 
village communities grew into larger settlements, until the 
whole of Latium became filled with a number of independent 
city-states. The ties of kinship and the necessity of defense 
against Etruscan and Sabine foes bound them together. At a 
very early period they had united in the Latin League, under 
the headship of Alba Longa. Another city in this league was 

Rome. 

49. The Romans 

Rome sprang from a settlement of Latin shepherds, farmers, 
and traders on the Palatine Mount.^ This was the central 
eminence in a group of low hills south of the Tiber, about fifteen 

1 The Romans believed that their city was founded in 753 B.C., from which year 
all Roman dates were reckoned. 



The Romans 



141 



miles by water from the river's mouth. Opposite the Palatine 
community there arose on the Quirinal Hill another Founding of 
settlement, which seems to have been an outpost ^^^^ 
of the Sabines. After much hard fighting the rival hill towns 




united on equal terms into one state. The low marshy land 
between the Palatine and Quirinal became the Forum, or com- 
mon market place, and the steep rock, known as the Capitoline, 
formed the common citadel.^ 

The union of the Palatine and Quirinal settlements greatly 
increased the area and population of the Roman union of the 
city. In course of time settlements were made on ^®^®^ ^^^^ 
the neighboring hills and these, too, cast in their lot with Rome. 
Then a fortification, the so-called ''Wall of Servius," was built 
to bring them all within the boundaries of the enlarged com- 

1 See the map, page 293. 



142 The Rise of Rome 

munity. Rome came into existence as the City of the Seven 

Hills. 

Long after the foundation of Rome, when that city had grown 

rich and powerful, her poets and historians delighted to relate 

Myths of the many myths which clustered about the earlier 

early Rome stages of her career. According to these myths 

Rome began as a colony of Alba Longa, the capital of Latium. 

The founder of this city was Ascanius, son of the Trojan prince 

iEneas, who had escaped from Troy on its capture by the 

Greeks and after long wanderings had reached the coast of 

Italy. Many generations afterwards, when Numitor sat on the 

throne of Alba Longa, his younger brother, Amulius, plotted 

against him and drove him into exile. He had Numitor's son 

put to death, and forced the daughter, Rhea Silvia, to take the 

vows of a Vestal Virgin.^ 

But Rhea Silvia, beloved by Mars, the god of war, gave birth 

to twin boys of more than human size and 

Romulus and beauty. The wicked Amulius 

Remus ordered the children to be set 

adrift in a basket on the Tiber. Heaven, 

however, guarded these offspring of a god; the 

river cast them ashore near Mount Palatine, 

and a she-wolf came and nursed them. There 
An Early Roman , , . , , ,111 ^ 

P they were discovered by a shepherd, who reared 

,^ , . them in his own household. When the twins. 

Shows the twins, 

Romulus and Remus, Romulus and Rcmus, reached manhood, they 
as infants suckled by ^^^led Amulius and restored their grandfather 

a wolf. ^ ^ 

to his kingdom. With other young men from 
Alba Longa, they then set forth to build a new city on the 
Palatine, where they had been rescued. As they scanned the 
sky to learn the will of the gods, six vultures, birds of Jupiter, 
appeared to Remus; but twelve were seen by Romulus. So 
Romulus marked out the boundary of the city on the Palatine, 
and Remus, who in derision leaped over the half -finished wall, 
he slew in anger. Romulus thus became the sole founder of 
Rome and its first king. 

1 See page 146. 




Early Roman Society 143 

Romulus was followed by a Sabine, Numa Pompilius, who 
taught the Romans the arts of peace and the worship of the 
gods. Another king destroyed Alba Longa and Successors of 
brought the inhabitants to Rome. The last of Romulus 
Rome's seven kings was an Etruscan named Tarquin the Proud. 
His tyranny finally provoked an uprising, and Rome became a 
republic. 

These famous tales have become a part of the world's litera- 
ture and still possess value to the student. They show us what 
the Romans themselves believed about the foun- significance 
dation and early fortunes of their city. Sometimes °^ *^® myths 
they refer to what seem to be facts, such as the first settlement 
on the Palatine, the union with the Sabines on the Quirinal, 
the conquest of Alba Longa, and Etruscan rule at Rome. The 
myths also contain so many references to customs and beliefs 
that they are a great help in understanding the social life and 
religion of the early Romans. 

50. Early Roman Society 

Agriculture was the chief occupation of the Roman people, 
"when our forefathers," said an ancient writer, "would praise 
a worthy man, they praised him as a good farmer ^j^^ Romans 
and a good landlord; and they believed that an agricul- 
praise could go no further." ^ Roman farmers *"^^ people 
raised large crops of grain — the staple product of ancient 
Italy. Cattle-breeding, also, must have been an important 
pursuit, since in early times prices were estimated in oxen and 
sheep. 2 

In such a community of peasants no great inequalities of 
wealth existed. Few citizens were very rich; few were very 
poor.- The members of each household made their Economic 
own clothing from flax or wool, and fashioned out conditions 
of wood and clay what utensils were needed for their simple life. 
For a long time the Romans had no coined money whatever. 
When copper came into use as currency, it passed from hand to 
hand in shapeless lumps that required frequent weighing. It 

1 Cato, De agricultura, i. 2 See page 6. 



144 



The Rise of Rome 




MENSIS 



was not until the fourth century that a regular coinage began.^ 
This use of copper as money indicates that gold and silver were 
rare among the Romans, and luxury almost unknown. 
Hard-working, god-fearing peasants are likely to lead clean 

and sober lives. This was cer- 
Moral char- Mainly true of the 
acter of the early Romans. 

early Romans rr^i i 

1 hey were a manly 

breed, abstemious in food and 
drink, iron- willed, vigorous, and 
strong. Deep down in the Ro- 
man's heart was the proud con- 
viction that Rome should rule 
over all her neighbors. For this 
he freely shed his blood; for 
this he bore hardship, however 
severe, without complaint. Be- 
fore everything else, he was a 
dutiful citizen and a true pa- 
triot. Such were the sturdy men 
who on their farms in Latium 
formed the backbone of the Ro- 
man state. Their character has 
set its mark on history for all 
time. 

The family formed the unit 
of Roman society. Its most 
The Roman marked feature 
family ^^^st he unlimited 



IIES-X 
ON9VINT 
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TVTELA 
IVNONIS 
■ PALVS 
A9VITVR 
SALIX 
HARVNDO 
C/IDITVR 
SACRIFICAN 

01 ES 
PENATIBVS 



MENSIS 

FEBRAR 
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SEGETES 
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SACRMAMVRIS 
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TRIALAVATK) 



A Roman Farmer's Calendar 

A marble cube, two feet high, of about 
31-29 B.C. 

The month of May, 

XXXI days, 

The nones fall on the 7th day. 

The day has 145 hours. 

The night has 9^ hours. 

The sun is in the sign of Taurus. 

The month is under the protection of Apollo, 

The corn is weeded. 

The sheep are shorn. 

The wool is washed. 

Young steers are put under the yoke. 

The vetch of the meadows is cut. 

The lustration of the crops is made. 

Sacrifices to Mercury and Flora. 



authority of the father. In his 
house he reigned an absolute king. His wife had no legal rights : 
he could sell her into slavery or divorce her at will. Neverthe- 
less, no ancient people honored women more highly than the 
Romans. A Roman wife was the mistress of the home, as her 
husband was its master. Though her education was not car- 
ried far, we often find the Roman matron taking a lively inter- 

1 See the illustration, page 7. 



Roman Religion 



145 




Cinerary Urns in Terra Cotta 

Vatican Museum, Rome 

These receptacles for the ashes of the dead were found in 
an old cemetery at Alba Longa. They show two forms of the 
primitive Roman hut. 



est in affairs of state, and aiding her husband both in poUtics 
and business. It was the women, as well as the men, who 
helped to make Rome great among the nations. Over his un- 
married daugh- 
ters and his sons, ^^ z^ ^>^^ 
the Roman father 
ruled as supreme 
as over his wife. 
He brought up his 
children to be so- 
ber, silent, modest 
in their bearing, 
and, above all, 
obedient. Their 
misdeeds he might 
punish with pen- 
alties as severe as 
banishment, slavery, or death. As head of the family he could 
claim all their earnings; everything they had was his. The 
father's great authority ceased only with his death. Then his 
sons, in turn, became lords over their families. 

51. Roman Religion 

• 

The Romans, like the ancient Greeks and the modern Chi- 
nese, paid special veneration to the souls of the dead. These 
were known by the flattering name of manes, the Worship of 
''pure" or ''good ones." The Romans always ancestors 
regarded the manes as members of the household to which they 
had belonged on earth. The living and the dead were thus 
bound together by the closest ties. The idea of the family 
triumphed even over the grave. 

The ancient Roman house had only one large room, the 
atrium, where all members of the family lived together. It was 
entered by a single door, which was sacred to the The house- 
god Janus. On the hearth, opposite the doorway, ^°^^ deities 
the housewife prepared the meals. The fire that ever blazed 
upon it gave warmth and nourishment to the inmates. Here 



146 



The Rise of Rome 




the house- 
hold deities 



dwelt Vesta, the spirit of the kindhng flame. The cupboard 
where the food w^as kept came under the charge of the Penates, 
who blessed the family store. The house as a whole had its 
protecting spirits, called Lares. 

The daily w^orship of these deities took place at the family 
meal. The table would be placed at 

Worship of ^^^ ^^^^ ^^ ^^^ hearth, 
and when the father 
and his family sat 
down to it, a Httle food would be 
thrown into the flames and a por- 
tion of wine poured out, as an offer- 
ing to the gods. The images of the 
Lares and Penates would also be 
fetched from the shrine and placed 
on the table in token of their pres- 
ence at the meal. This religion of 
the family lasted with little change 
throughout the entire period of Ro- 
man history. 

The early Roman state was only 
an enlarged family, and hence the 
Janus and religion of ., the state 
Vesta ^yg^g modeled after that 

of the family. Some of the divini- 
ties, such as Janus and Vesta, were taken over with Uttle change 
from the domestic worship. The entrance to the Forum formed 
a shrine of Janus,^ which Numa himself was said to have built. 
The door, or gateway, stood open in time of war, but shut w^hen 
Rome w^as at peace. At the south end of the Forum stood the 
round temple of Vesta, containing the sacred hearth of the city. 
Here Vesta was served by six virgins of free birth, whose duty 
it w^as to keep the fire always blazing on the altar. If by acci- 
dent the fire went out, it must be relighted from a ''pure flame,'' 




/ 



A Vestal Virgin 

Portrait from a statue discovered in 
the ruins of the temple of Vesta in the 
Roman Forum. 



1 Since a door (janua) had two sides, Janus, the door god, was represented with 
the curious double face which appears on Roman coins. (See the plate facing 
page 134.) The month of January in the Julian calendar was named for him. 



Roman Religion 



147 



either by striking a spark with flint or by rubbing together two 
dry sticks. Such methods of kindUng fire were those famiHar 
to the prehistoric Romans. 

The Romans worshiped various gods connected with their 
lives as shepherds, farmers, and warriors. The chief divinity 
was Jupiter, who ruled the heavens and sent rain jupiter and 
and sunshine to nourish the crops. The war god ^^^^ 
Mars reflected the military character of the Romans. His 




SUOVETAUEILIA 

Louvre, Paris 

The relief pictures an ancient Italian sacrifice of a bull, a ram, and a boar, oflFered to Mars 
to secure purification from sin. Note the sacred laurel trees, the two altars, and the officiat- 
ing magistrate, whose head is covered with the toga. He is sprinkling incense from a box 
held by an attendant. Another attendant carries a ewer with the libation. In the rear is the 
sacrificer with his ax. 

sacred animal was the fierce, cruel wolf; his symbols were 

spears and shields; his altar was the Campus Martins (Field of 

Mars) outside the city walls, where the army assembled in 

battle array. March, the first month of the old Roman year, 

w^as named in his honor. Some other gods were borrowed from 

the Greeks, together with many of the beautiful Greek myths. 

The Romans took many precautions, before beginning any 

enterprise, to find out what was the will of the gods and how 

their favor might first be gained. They did not 

, 111 .11 . Divination 

have oracles, but they paid much attention to 

omens of all sorts. A sudden flash of lightning, an eclipse of 

the sun, a blazing comet, or an earthquake shock was an omen 



148 



The Rise of Rome 



which awakened superstitious^ fear. It indicated the disap- 
proval of the gods. From the Etruscans the Romans learned 
to divine the future by examining the entrails of animal victims. 
They also borrowed from their northern neighbors the practice 

of looking for signs in the num- 
ber, flight, and action of birds. 
To consult such signs was called 
"taking the auspices." ^ 

Roman priests, who con- 
ducted the state religion, did 

■r. . .,- J 110 1 form a sepa- 
Pnesthoods ^ 

rate class, as in 
some Oriental countries. They 
were chosen, like other magis- 
trates, from the general body of 
citizens. A board, or ''college," 
of six priests had charge of the 
public auspices. Another 
board, that of the pontiffs, regu- 
lated the calendar, kept the 
public annals, and regulated 
weights and measures. They were experts in all matters of 
religious ceremonial and hence were very important officials.^ 
This old Roman faith was something very different from 
what we understand by religion. It had little direct influence 
Importance ^^ morality. It did not promise rewards or 
threaten punishments in a future world. Roman 
religion busied itself with the everyday life of man. 
Just as the household was bound together by the tie of common 
worship, so all the citizens were united in a common reverence 
for the deities which guarded the state. The religion of Rome 
made and held together a nation. 

1 Latin auspicium, from auspex, a bird seer. 

2 The title of the president of the pontiffs, Pontifex Maximus (Supreme Pontiff), 
is still that of the pope. See page 364. 




An Etruscan Augur 

Wall painting from a tomb at Tarquinii in 
Etruria. 



of the state 
religion 



The Roman City-State 



149 





52. The Roman City-State 

We find in early Rome, as in Homeric Greece/ a city-state 
with its king, council, and assembly. The king was the father 
of his people, having over them the same absolute Early Roman 
authority that the house-father held within the government 
family. The king was assisted by a council of elders, or Sen- 
ate (Latin se^i'es, "old men"). Its 
members were chosen by the king 
and held office for life. The most 
influential heads of families be- 
longed to the Senate. The com- 
mon people at first took little part 
in the government, for it was only 
on rare occasions that the king 
summoned them to deliberate with 
him in an assembly. 

Toward the close of the sixth cen- 
tury, as we have already learned,- 
the ancient monarchy xherepubli- 
disappeared from can consuls 
Rome. In place of the lifelong 
king two magistrates, named con- 
suls, were elected every year. Each 
consul had to share his honor and 
authority with a colleague who enjoyed the same power as him- 
self. Unless both agreed, there could be no action. Like the 
Spartan kings, ^ the consuls served as checks, the one on the 
other. Neither could safely use his position to aim at unlaw- 
ful rule. 

This divided power of the consuls might work very well in 
times of peace. During dangerous wars or insurrections it was 
likely to prove disastrous. A remedy was found 
in the temporary revival of the old kingship under 
a new name. When occasion required, one of the consuls, on 
the advice of the Senate, appointed a dictator. The' consuls 

1 See page 81. 2 See page 143. 3 See page 83. 



Coop with Sacred Chickens 

The relief represents the chickens in 
the act of feeding. The most favorable 
omen was secured when the fowls 
greedily picked up more of the corn 
than they could swallow at one time. 
Their refusal to eat at all was an 
omen of disaster. 



The dictator 



150 The Rise of Rome 

then gave up their authority and the people put their property and 
Hves entirely at the dictator's disposal. During his term of office, 
which could not exceed six months, the state was under martial 
law. Throughout Roman history there were many occasions 
when a dictatorship was created to meet a sudden emergency. 

The Roman state, during the regal age, seems to have been 
divided between an aristocracy and a commons. The nobles 
Patricians were Called patricians,^ and the common people 
and plebeians -were known as plebeians.^ The patricians occu- 
pied a privileged position, since they alone sat in the Senate 
and served as priests, judges, and magistrates. In fact, 
they controlled society, and the common people found them- 
selves excluded from much of the religious, legal, and political 
life of the Roman city. Under these circumstances it was 
natural for the plebeians to agitate against the patrician mo- 
nopoly of government. The struggle between the two orders 
of society lasted about two centuries. 

A few years after the establishment of the republic the 

plebeians compelled the patricians to allow them to have officers 

^, ., of their own, called tribunes, as a means of pro- 

The tribunes . ^ ' . , , , ^,, 

tection. There were ten tribunes, elected annually 

by the plebeians. Any tribune could veto, that is, forbid, the 
act of a magistrate which seemed to bear harshly on a citizen. 
To make sure that a tribune's orders would be respected, his 
person w^as made sacred and a solemn curse was pronounced 
upon the man who injured him or interrupted him in the per- 
formance of his duties. The tribune's authority, however, 
extended only within the city and a mile beyond its walls. He 
was quite powerless against the consul in the field. 

We next find the plebeians struggling for equahty before the 
The Twelve ^^^- J^^^ ^^ ^^ ancient Athens,^ the early Ro- 
Tables, 449 man laws had never been written down or pub- 
' * fished. About half a century after the plebeians 

had obtained the tribunes, they forced the patricians to give 
them written laws. A board of ten men, known as decemvirs, 



1 From the Latin patres, "fathers." ^ See page 85. 

2 Latin plebs, "the crowd." 



i 



The Roman City-State 



151 




was appointed to frame a legal code, binding equally on both 
patricians and plebeians. The story goes that this commission 
studied the legislation of the Greek states of southern Italy, and 
even went to Athens to examine some of Solon's laws which 
were still in force. The laws framed by the decemvirs were 
engraved on twelve bronze tablets and set 
up in the Forum. A few sentences from 
this famous code have come down to us in 
rude, unpolished Latin. They mark the be- 
ginning of what was to be Rome's greatest 
gift to civilization — her legal system. 

The hardest task of the plebeians was to 
secure the right of holding the great offices 
of state. Eventually, how- pinal triumph 
ever, they gained entrance to of the pie- 
the Senate and became eligible 
to the consulship and other magistracies 
and to the priesthoods. By the middle of 
the third century the plebeians and patri- 
cians, equal before the law and with equal 
privileges, formed one compact body of citi- 
zens in the Roman state. 

The Roman state called itself a republic 
thing of the people." Roman citizens made the laws and 
elected public officers. Though the people in their Rome as a 
gatherings had now become supreme, their power ^epubhc 
was really much limited by the fact that very little discussion 
of a proposed measure was allowed. This formed a striking 
contrast to the vigorous debating which went on in the Athe- 
nian Assembly.^ Roman citizens could not frame, criticize, or 
amend pubhc measures; they could only vote ''yes" or "no" 
to proposals made to them by a magistrate. 

Rome had many magistrates. Besides the two consuls and 
an occasional dictator there were the ten tribunes 
the praetors, who served as judges, and the quaes- 
tors, or keepers of the treasury. The two censors were also very 

1 See page 105. 



CuRULE Chair and 
Fasces 

A consul sat on the 
curule chair. The fasces 
(axes in a bundle of rods) 
symbolized his power to 
flog and behead offenders. 

- respublica — "a 



Magistrates 



152 The Rise of Rome 

important officers. It was their business to make an enumera- 
tion or census of the citizens and to assess property for taxation. 
The censors almost always were reverend seniors who had 
held the consulship and enjoyed a reputation for justice and 
wisdom. Their office grew steadily in importance, especially 
after the censors began to exercise an oversight of the private 
life of the Romans. They could expel a senator from his seat 
for immorality and could deprive any citizen of his vote. The 
word "censorious," meaning faultfinding, is derived from the 
name of these ancient officials. 

The authority of the magistrates w^as much limited by the 
Senate. This body contained about three hundred members, 
Membership who held their seats generally for life. When 
of the Senate vacancies occurred, they were filled, as a rule, by 
those who had previously held one or more of the higher magis- 
tracies. There sat in the Senate every man who, as statesman, 
general, or diplomatist, had served his country well. 

The Senate furnished an admirable school for debate. Any 
senator could speak as long and as often as he chose. The 
Powers exer- opportunities for discussion WTre numerous, for 
cised by the all weighty matters came before this august assem- 
^^^ ^ blage. It managed finances and public w^orks. 

It looked after the state religion. It declared and conducted 
war, received ambassadors from foreign countries, made alli- 
ances, and administered conquered territories. The Senate 
formed the real governing body of the republic. 

The Senate proved not unworthy of its high position. For two 
centuries, while Rome was winning dominion over Italy and the 
*'An assem- Mediterranean, that body held the wisest and 
bly of kings" i^ioblest Romans of the time. To these men office 
meant a public trust — an opportunity to serve their country with 
distinction and honor. The Senate, in its best days, was a splen- 
did example of the foresight, energy, and wisdom of republican 
Rome. An admiring foreigner called it " an assembly of kings." ^ 

1 The four letters inscribed on Roman military standards indicate the impor- 
tant place held by the Senate. They are 5. P. Q. R., standing for Senatus Popu- 
lusque Romanus, "The Senate and the People of Rome." 



Expansion of Rome over Italy 153 

53. Expansion of Rome over Italy, 509 (?)-264 B.C. 

The first centuries of the repubhc were filled with constant 
warfare. The Romans needed all their skill, bravery, and pa- 
triotism to keep back the Etruscans on the north _ 

Rome 
and the wild tribes of the Apennines. About 390 supreme 

B.C. the state was brought near to destruction by J.^J'^*^^"^' 

338 S.C 

an invasion of the Gauls. ^ These barbarians, whose 
huge bulk and enormous weapons struck terror to the hearts of 
their adversaries, poured through the Alpine passes and ravaged 
far and wide. At the river Allia, only a few miles from Rome, 
they annihilated a Roman army and then captured and burned 
the city itself. But the Gallic tide receded as swiftly as it had 
come, and Rome rose from her ashes mightier than ever. Half 
a century after the GalHc invasion she was able to subdue her 
former alUes, the Latins, and to destroy their league. The 
Latin War, as it is called, ended in 338 B.C., the year of the fate- 
ful battle of Chaeronea in Greece.^ By this time Rome ruled in 
Latium and southern Etruria and had begun to extend her sway 
over Campania. There remained only one Italian people to con- 
test with her the supremacy of the peninsula — the Samnites. 
The Samnites were the most vigorous and warlike race of cen- 
tral Italy. While the Romans were winning their way in Latium, 

the Samnites were also entering on a career of con- _ 

* Rome 

quest. They coveted the fertile Campanian plain supreme in 

with its luxurious cities, Cumae and Neapolis, which central Italy, 

^ ' 290 B.C. 

the Greeks had founded. The Romans had also 
fixed their eyes on the same region, and so a contest between 
the two peoples became inevitable. In numbers, courage, and 
military skill Romans and Samnites were well matched. Nearly 
half a century of hard fighting was required before Rome gained 
the upper hand. The close of the Samnite wars found Rome 
supreme in central Italy. Her authority was now recognized 
from the upper Apennines to the foot of the peninsula. 

The wealthy cities of southern Italy offered a tempting prize 
to Roman greed. Before long many of them received Roman 

1 See page 129. 2 See page 118. 



154 The Rise of Rome 

garrisons and accepted the rule of the great Latin republic. 
Rome supreme Tarentum/ howcvcr, the most important of the 
in southern Greek colonies, held jealously to her independence. 
Italy, 264 . . Uj^^i^j^. single-handed to face the Romans, Taren- 
tuni turned to Greece for aid. She called on Pyrrhus, king of 
Epirus, the fmest soldier of his age. Pyrrhus led twenty-five 
thousand mercenary soldiers into Italy, an army almost as 
large as Alexander's. The Romans could not break the bristling 
ranks of the Greek phalanx, and they shrank back in terror before 
the huge war elephants which Pyrrhus had brought with him. 
The invader won the first battle, but lost many of his best troops. 
He then offered peace on condition that the Romans should give 
up tiieir possessions in southern Italy. The Senate returned the 
proud reply that Rome would not treat with the enemy while he 
stood on Italian soil. A second battle was so bitterly contested 
that J^yrrhus declared, "Another such victory, and I am lost." - 
Weary of the struggle, Pyrrhus now crossed over to Sicily to aid 
his countrymen against the Carthaginians. The rapid progress 
of the Roman arms called him l)ack, only to meet a severe 
defeat. Pyrrhus then withdrew in disgust to Greece; Tarentum 
fell; and Rome established her rule over southern Italy. 

The triumph over J^yrrhus and the conquest of Magna 
Graecia mark a decisive moment in the history of Rome. Had 
Political situ- I'yn-hus won, Italy, as well as Asia and Egypt, 
ation in 264 might have become a Greek land, ruled by Hellen- 
istic kings. Now it was clear that Rome, having 
met the invader so bravely, was to remain supreme in the 
Italian peninsula. She was the undisputed mistress of Italy 
from the strait of Messina northward to the Arnus and the 
Ru])icon. Etruscans, Latins, Samnites, and Greeks acknowl- 
edged her sway. The central city of the peninsula had be- 
come the center of a united Italy.^ 

> Sec paKo 8y. 2 Plutarch, Pyrrhus, 21. 

» It should be noticed, however, that as yet Rome controlled only the central 
and southern parts of what is the modern kingdom of Italy. Two large divisions of 
that kingdom, which every Italian now regards as essential to its unity, were in 
other hands — the To valley and the island of Sicily. 



J 



Italy under Roman Rule 155 

64. Italy under Roman Rule 

Italy did not form a single state under Roman rule. About 
one-third of Italy composed the strictly Roman territory occu- 
pied by Roman citizens. Since ancient Rome The Roman 
knew nothing of the great principle of representa- citizens 
tive government/ it was necessary that citizens who wished to 
vote or to stand for office should visit in person the capital city. 
Few men, of course, would journey many miles to Rome in 
order to exercise their political rights. The elections, moreover, 
were not all held on one day, as with us, but consuls, praetors, 
and other magistrates were chosen on different days, while 
meetings of the assemblies might be held at any time of the 
year. A country peasant who really tried to fulfill his duties as 
a citizen would have had little time for anything else. In prac- 
tice, therefore, the city populace at Rome had the controlling 
voice in ordinary legislation. The Romans were never able to 
remedy this grave defect in their political system. We shall see 
later what evils government without representation brought in 
its train. 

Over against this body of Roman citizens were the Italian 
peoples. Rome was not yet ready to grant them citizenship, 
but she did not treat them as complete subjects. 
The Italians were called the ''allies and friends" 
of the Roman people. They lost the right of declaring war on 
one another, of making treaties, and of coining money. Rome 
otherwise allowed them to govern themselves, never calling on 
them for tribute and only requiring that they should furnish 
soldiers for the Roman army in time of war. These allies 
occupied a large part of the Italian peninsula. 

The Romans very early began to establish what were called 
Latin colonies ^ in various parts of Italy. The colo- The Latin 
nists were usually veteran soldiers or poor plebeians colonies 
who wanted farms of their own. When the list of colonists 

1 See page io6. 

2 Latin colonists did not have the right of voting in the assembUes at Rome. 
This privilege was enjoyed, however, by members of the "Roman" colonies, which 
were planted mainly along the coast. See the map, page 156. 



156 



The Rise of Rome 



was made up, they all marched forth in military array to take 
possession of their new homes and build their city. The Latin 
colonies were really offshoots of Rome and hence were always 




faithful to her interests. Scattered everywhere in Italy they 
formed so many permanent camps or garrisons to keep the 
conquered peoples in subjection. At the same time they helped 
mightily in spreading the Latin language, law, and civilization 
throughout the peninsula. 

All the colonies were united with one another and with Rome 
by an extensive system of roads. The first great road, called 



Italy under Roman Rule 



157 



the Appian Way, was made during the period of the Samnite 

wars. It united the city of Rome with Capua and „ 

Roman roads 
secured the hold of Rome on Campania. The 

Appian Way was afterwards carried across the Apennines to 

Brundisium on the Adriatic, whence travelers embarked for the 




The Appian Way 

A view in the neighborhood of Rome. The ancient construction of the road and its 
massive paving blocks of lava have been laid bare by modern excavations. The width of the 
roadway proper was only fifteen feet. The arches, seen in the background, belong to the 
aqueduct built by the emperor Claudius in 52 a.d. 

coast of Greece. Other trunk lines were soon built in Italy, and 
from them a network of smaller highways was extended to 
every part of the peninsula. 

Roman roads had a military origin. Like the old Persian 
roads ^ they were intended to facilitate the rapid dispatch of 
troops, supplies, and official messages into every uses of Ro- 
corner of Italy. Hence the roads ran, as much as ^^^ ^°^^^ 
possible, in straight lines and on easy grades. Nothing was 
allowed to obstruct their course. Engineers cut through or 
tunneled the hills, bridged rivers and gorges, and spanned low, 
swampy lands with viaducts of stone. So carefully were these 
roads constructed that some stretches of them are still in good 

1 See page 40. 



158 



The Rise of Rome 



condition. These magnificent highways were free to the pubHc. 

They naturally became avenues of trade and travel and so 

served to bring the Italian peoples into close touch with Rome. 

Rome thus began in Italy that wonderful process of Roman- 

ization which she was to extend 
Romaniza- later to Spain, Gaul, 
tion of Italy ^nd Britain. She be- 
gan to make the ItaHan peoples 
like herself in blood, speech, cus- 
toms, and manners. More and 
more the Italians, under Rome's 
leadership, came to look upon 
themselves as one people — the 
people who wore the gown, or toga, 
as contrasted with the barbarous 
and trousers-wearing Gauls. 

55. The Roman Army 

While the Romans were con- 
quering Italy, they were making 

^, , . many improvements 

The legion . 1 . .„ 

m their army. All 

citizens between the ages of seven- 
teen and forty-six were liable to 
active service. These men were 
mainly landowners — hardy, intel- 
ligent peasants — who knew how to fight and how to obey or- 
ders. An army in the field consisted of one or more legions. 
A legion included about three thousand heavy-armed footmen, 
twelve hundred light infantry, and three hundred horsemen. 
After the conquest of Italy the states allied with Rome had to 
furnish soldiers, chiefly archers and cavalry. These auxiliaries, 
as they were called, were at least as numerous as legionaries. 
The Romans, in carrying on war, employed not only their 
citizens but also their subjects. 

The legion oft'ered a sharp contrast to the unwieldy phalanx.^ 

1 See page ii6. 




A Roman Legionary 

From a monument of the imperial age. 
The soldier wears a metal helmet, a 
leather doublet with shoulder-pieces, a 
metal-plated belt, and a sword hang- 
ing from a strap thrown over the left 
shoulder. His left hand holds a large 
shield, his right, a heavy javelin. 



The Roman Army 



159 



Roman soldiers usually fought in an open order, with the heavy- 
armed infantry arranged in three lines: first, the Method of 
younger men; next, the more experienced warriors; ^s^t^^s 
and lastly the veterans. A battle began with skirmishing by 
the light troops, which moved to the front and discharged their 
darts to harass the enemy. The companies of the first line next 
flung their javelins at a distance of 
from ten to twenty paces and then, 
wielding their terrible short swords, 
came at once to close quarters with 
the foe. It was like a volley of mus- 
ketry followed by a fierce bayonet 
charge. If the attack proved unsuc- 
cessful, the wearied soldiers withdrew 
to the rear through the gaps in the 
line behind. The second line now 
marched forward to the attack; if it 
was repulsed, there was still the third 
line of steady veterans for the last and 
decisive blow. 

A very remarkable part of the Ro- 
man military system consisted in the 
use of fortified camps. Fortified 
Every time the army c^^^ps 
halted, if only for a single night, the 
legionaries intrenched themselves 
within a square inclosure. It was 
protected by a ditch, an earthen 
mound, and a palisade of stakes. 
This camp formed a little city with 
its streets, its four gates, a forum, 
and the headquarters of the general. 
Behind the walls of such a fortress an 
army was always at liberty to accept 
or decline a battle. As a proverb said, the Romans often con- 
quered by ''sitting still." 

Roman soldiers lived under the strictest discipline. To their 




A Roman Standard 
Bearer 

Bonn Museum 

From a gravestone of the first 
century a.d. The standard con- 
sists of a spear crowned with a 
wreath, below which is a crossbar 
bearing pendant acorns. Then 
follow, in order, a metal disk, Ju- 
piter's eagle standing on a thunder- 
bolt, a crescent moon, an amulet, 
and a large tassel. 



i6o The Rise of Rome 

general they owed absolute, unquestioning obedience. He 

•n- -^r^o. could condemn them to death without trial. The 
Discipline; 

rewards and sentinel who slept on his watch, the legionary who 
onors disobeyed an order or threw away his arms on the 

field of battle, might be scourged with rods and then .beheaded. 
The men were encouraged to deeds of valor by various marks 
of distinction, which the general presented to them in the pres- 
ence of the entire army. The highest reward was the civic 
crown of oak leaves, granted to one who had saved the life 
of a fellow-soldier on the battle field. 

The state sometimes bestowed on a victorious general the 
honor of a triumph. This was a grand parade and procession 

in the city of Rome. First came the magistrates 

The triumph , ■' , , . , , , 

and senators, wagons laden with booty, and 

captives in chains. Then followed the conqueror himself, clad 
in a gorgeous robe and riding in a four-horse chariot. Behind 
him marched the soldiers, who sang a triumphal hymn. The 
long procession passed through the streets to the Forum and 
mounted the Capitoline Hill. There the general laid his laurel 
crown upon the knees of the statue of Jupiter, as a thank offer- 
ing for victory. Meanwhile, the captives who had just appeared 
in the procession were strangled in the underground prison of 
the Capitol. It was a day of mingled joy and tragedy. 

The Romans, it has been said, were sometimes vanquished in 

Military gen- battle, but they were always victorious in war. 

ius of the With the short swords of her disciplined soldiers, 

omans j^^^ flexible legion, and her fortified camps, Rome 

won dominion in Italy and began the conquest of the world. 

Studies 

I. On an outline map indicate the Roman dominions in 500 B.C.; in 338 B.C.; in 
264 B.C. 2. Make a list of the Roman magistrates mentioned in this chapter, and 
of the powers exercised by each. 3. Give the meaning of our English words "pa- 
trician," "plebeian," "censor," "dictator," "tribune," "augury," "auspices," and 
"veto." 4. Connect the proper events with the following dates: 753 B.C.; 509 
B.C.; and 338 B.C. 5. Why have Sicily, Sardinia, and Corsica been called the 
"suburbs of Italy"? 6. "Italy and Greece may be described as standing back to 
back to each other." Explain this statement. 7. What is the origin of our names 
of the two months, January and March? 8. Compare the early Roman with the 



The Roman Army i6i 

early Greek religion as to (a) likenesses; (b) differences, g. Why have the consuls 
been called "joint kings for one year"? lo. What do you understand by "martial 
law'? Under what circumstances is it sometimes declared in the United States? 
II. Compare the position of the Roman patricians with that of the Athenian nobles 
before the legislation of Draco and Solon. 12, What officers in American cities per- 
form some of the duties of the censors, praetors, and aediles? 13. In the Roman and 
Spartan constitutions contrast: (a) consuls and kings; (b) censors and ephors; 
and ic) the two senates. 14. Compare the Roman Senate and the Senate of the 
United States as to size, term of ofl&ce of members, conditions of membership, pro- 
cedure, functions, and importance. 15. How far can the phrase, "government of 
the people, by the people, for the people," be applied to the Roman Republic at 
this period? 16. What conditions made it easy for the Romans to conquer Magna 
Graecia and difficult for them to subdue the Samnites? 17. What is a "Pyrrhic 
victory"? 18. Compare the nature of Roman rule over Italy with that of Athens 
over the Delian League. 19. Trace on the map, page 156, the Appian and Flamin- 
ian ways, noting some of the cities along the routes and the terminal points of each 
road. 20. Explain: "all roads lead to Rome." 21. Contrast the legion and the 
phalanx as to arrangement, armament, and method of fighting. 22. "Rome seems 
greater than her greatest men." Comment on this statement. 



CHAPTER VIII 
THE GREAT AGE OF THE ROMAN REPUBLIC, 264-31 B.C.i 

56. The Rivals: Rome and Carthage, 264-218 B.C. 

The conquest of Italy made Rome one of the five leading 
states of the Mediterranean world. In the East there were the 
The Punic kingdoms of Macedonia, Syria, and Egypt, which 
w^^ had inherited the dominions of Alexander the 

Great. In the West there were Carthage and Rome, once in 
friendly alliance, but now to become the bitterest foes. Rome 
had scarcely reached the headship of united Italy before she 
was involved in a life-and-death struggle with this rival power. 
The three w^ars between them are known as the Punic wars; 
they are the most famous contests that ancient history records; 
and they ended in the complete destruction of Carthage. 

More than a century before the traditional date at which 
Rome rose upon her seven hills, Phoenician colonists laid the 
Foundation foundations of a second Tyre. The new city occu- 
of Carthage pjgj ^j^ admirable site, for it bordered on rich farm- 
ing land and had the largest harbor of the' north African coast. 
A position at the junction of the eastern and western basins of 
the Mediterranean gave it unsurpassed opportunities for trade. 
At the same time Carthage was far enough away to be out of 
the reach of Persian or Macedonian conquerors. 

By the middle of the third century B.C. the Carthaginians 

Commercial ^^^ formed an imposing commercial empire. Their 

empire of African dominions included the strip of coast from 

art age Cyrene westward to the strait of Gibraltar. Their 

colonies covered the shores of Sicily, Sardinia, Corsica, and 

1 Webster, Readings in Ancient History, chapter xv, "Hannibal and the Great 
Punic War"; chapter xvi, "Cato the Censor: a Roman of the Old School"; chapter 
xvii, "Cicero the Orator"; chapter xviii, "The Conquest of Gaul, Related by 
Caesar"; chapter xix, "The Makers of Imperial Rome: Character Sketches by 
Suetonius." 

162 



The Rivals: Rome and Carthage 



163 



mi^'^ 






-4' 






southern Spain. The western hah of the Mediterranean had 
become a Carthaginian lake. 

Before the opening of the Punic wars Carthage had been 
much enlarged by emigrants from Tyre, after the capture of 
that city by Alexander.^ The Carthaginian 
Phoenician colonists kept their civiUzation 
own language, customs, and beliefs and did 
not mingle with the native African peoples. 
Carthage in form was a republic, but the 
real power lay in the hands of one hundred 
men, selected from the great merchant fam- 
ilies. It was a government by capitalists 
who cared very little for the welfare of the 
poor freemen and slaves over whom they 
ruled. The wealth of Carthage enabled her 
to raise huge armies of mercenary soldiers 
and to build warships which in size, number, 
and equipment surpassed those of any other 
Mediterranean state. Mistress of a wide 
realm, strong both by land and sea, Car- 
thage was now to prove herself Rome's 
most dangerous foe. 

The First Punic War was a contest for 
Sicily. The Carthaginians aimed to estab- 
lisPi their rule over that island, origin of the 
which from its situation seems First Punic 
to belong almost as much to ^^ 
Africa as to Italy. But Rome, having be- 
come supreme in Italy, also cast envious 
eyes on Sicily. She believed, too, that the 
Carthaginians, if they should conquer 
Sicily, would sooner or later invade southern Italy. The fear 
for her possessions, as well as the desire to gain new ones, led 
Rome to fling down the gage of battle. 

The contest between the two rival states began in 264 B.C. 
and lasted nearly twenty-four years. The Romans overran 

1 See page 123. 




Column of Duilius 
(Restored) 

The Roman admiral, 
Duilius, who won a great 
victory in 260 B.C., was 
honored by a triumphal 
column set up in the 
Forum. The monument 
was adorned with the 
brazen beaks of the cap- 
tured Carthaginian ves- 
sels. Part of the inscrip- 
tion, reciting the achieve- 
ments of the Roman fleet, 
has been preserved. 



164 The Great Age of the Roman RepubHc 

Sicily and even made an unsuccessful invasion of Africa, but 

the main struggle was on the sea. Here at first 
Course and , °° ,. , •.-,■, 

results of the the Romans were at a disadvantage, tor they had 
war, 264-241 ^q ships as large and powerful as those of the 
Carthaginians. With characteristic energy, how- 
ever, they built several great war fleets and finally won a 
complete victory over the enemy. The treaty of peace pro- 
vided that Carthage should abandon Sicily, return all prisoners 
without ransom, and pay a heavy indemnity. 

Carthage, though beaten, had not been humbled. She had lost 
Sicily and the commercial monopoly of the Mediterranean. But 
The interval ^^^ ^^^^^ ^^^ ready to abandon all hope of recov- 
of preparation, ering her former supremacy. The peace amounted 

241—218 B C 

to no more than an armed truce. Both parties were 
well aware that the real conflict was yet to come. The war, 
however, was delayed for nearly a- quarter of a century. During 
this interval Rome strengthened her military position by seizing 
the islands of Sardinia and Corsica from Carthage and by con- 
quering the Gauls in the Po valley. The Carthaginians, mean- 
while, began to create a new empire in Spain, whose silver mines 
would supply fresh means for another contest and whose hardy 
tribes would furnish soldiers as good as the Roman legionaries. 

57. Hannibal and the Great Punic War, 218-201 B.C. ■ 

The steady advance of the Carthaginian arms in Spain caused 
much uneasiness in Rome and at length led that city to declare 
. . war. Carthage herself was not unwilling for a 

the Second second trial of strength. Her leading general, 
oiTr c^^* Hannibal, who had been winning renown in Spain, 
believed that the Carthaginians were now in a 
position to wage an aggressive w^ar against their mighty rival. 
And so the two great Mediterranean powers, each confident of 
success, renewed the struggle for supremacy. 

At the opening of the conflict Hannibal was not quite twenty- 

seven years of age. While yet a mere child, so the 

story went, his father had led him to the altar, and 

bade him swear by the Carthaginian gods eternal enmity to 



Hannibal and the Great Punic War 165 

Rome. He followed his father to Spain and there learned all 
the duties of a soldier. As a master of the art of war, he ranks 
with Alexander the Great. The Macedonian king conquered 
the world for the glory of conquest; Hannibal, burning with 
patriotism, fought to destroy the power which had humbled his 
native land. He failed; and his failure left Carthage weaker 
than he found her. Few men have possessed a more dazzling 
genius than Hannibal, but his genius was not employed for 
the lasting good of humanity. 

The Romans planned to conduct the war in Spain and Africa, 
at a distance from their own shores. Hannibal's bold move- 
ments totally upset these calculations. The Car- Hannibal's 
thaginian general had determined that the con- invasion of 
flict should take place in the Italian .peninsula ^ 
itself. Since Roman fleets now controlled the Mediterra- 
nean, it was necessary for Hannibal to lead his army, with its 
supplies, equipment, and beasts of burden, by the long and dan- 
gerous land route from Spain to Italy. In the summer of 218 
B.C. Hannibal set out from Spain with a large force of infantry 
and cavalry, besides a number of elephafits. Beyond the river 
Ebro he found himself in hostile territory, through which the 
soldiers had to fight their way. To force the passage of the 
Pyrenees and the Alps cost him more than half his original 
army. When, after a five months' march he stood on the soil of 
Italy, Hannibal had scarcely twenty-five thousand troops with 
which to meet the immense power of Rome — a power that, 
given time, could muster to her defense more than half a million 
disciplined soldiers. 

The Romans were surprised by the boldness and rapidity of 
Hannibal's movements. They had expected to conduct the 
war far away in foreign lands; they now knew that First victories 
they must fight for their own homes and firesides. °^ Hannibal 
The first battles were complete victories for the Carthaginians 
and opened the road to Rome. Hannibal's plans, however, did 
not include a siege of the capital. He would not shatter his 
victorious army in an assault on a fortified town. Hannibal's 
real object was to bring the Itahans over to his side, to ruin 



1 66 The Great Age of the Roman Repubhc 



A dictatorship 




Rome through the revoUs of her aUies. But now he learned, 
apparently for the first time, that Italy was studded with Latin 
colonies/ each a minature Rome, each prepared to resist to the 
bitter end. Not a single city opened its gates to the invader. 
On such sohd foundations rested Roman rule in Italy. 

The Senate faced the crisis with characteristic energy. New 
forces were raised and intrusted to a dictator,^ Quintus Fabius 
Maximus. He refused to meet Hannibal in a 
pitched battle, but followed doggedly his enemy's 
footsteps, meanwhile drilling his soldiers to become a match for 

the Carthaginian veterans. This 
strategy was little to the taste of 
the Roman populace, who nick- 
named Fabius Cunctator, 'Hhe 
^ Laggard." However, it gave 
Rome a brief breathing space, un- 
til her preparations to crush the 
invader should be completed. 

After the term of Fabius as dic- 
tator had expired, new consuls 
were chosen. They 
commanded th.e 
largest army Rome 
had ever put in the field. The opposing forces met at Cannae 
in Apulia. The Carthaginians numbered less than fifty thousand 
men; the Romans had more than eighty thousand troops. Han- 
nibal's sole superiority lay in his cavalry, which was posted on 
the wings with the infantry occupying the space between. 
Hannibal's center was weak and gave way before the Romans, 
who fought this time massed in solid columns. The arrange- 
ment was a poor one, for it destroyed the mobility of the legions. 
The Roman soldiers, having pierced the enemy's lines, now 
found themselves exposed on both flanks to the African infantry 
and taken in the rear by Hannibal's splendid cavalry. The 
battle ended in a hideous butchery. One of the consuls died 
fighting bravely to the last; the other escaped from the field 

1 See page 155. 2 g^g p^ge 149. 



A Carthagixian or Roman 
Hel]met 

British Museum, London 
Found on the battle field of Cannae. 



Battle of 
Cannae, 
216 B.C. 



Hannibal and the Great Punic War 167 

and with the wreck of his army fled to Rome. A Punic com- 
mander who survived such a disaster would have perished on 
the cross; the Roman commander received the thanks of the 
Senate ''for not despairing of the repubhc." ^ 

The battle of Cannae marks the summit of Hannibal's career. 
He maintained himself in Italy for thirteen years thereafter, but 
the Romans, taught by bitter experience, refused 
another engagement with their foe. Hannibal's 
army was too small and too poorly equipped with siege engines 
for a successful attack on Rome. His brother, Hasdrubal, led 
strong reinforcements from Spain to Italy, but these were 
caught and destroyed before they could effect a junction with 
Hannibal's troops. Meanwhile the brilliant Roman commander, 
Publius Scipio, drove the Carthaginians from Spain and invaded 
Africa. Hannibal was summoned from Italy to face this new 
adversary. He came, and on the field of Zama (202 B.C.) met 
his first and only defeat. Scipio, the victor, received the proud 
surname, Africanus. 

Exhausted Carthage could now do no more than sue for peace 
on any terms that Rome was willing to grant. In the hour of 
defeat she still trusted her mighty soldier, and it Peace in 201 
was Hannibal who conducted the final negotia- ■^•^• 
tions. The conditions of peace were severe enough. The 
Carthaginians gave up Spain and all their ships except ten 
triremes. They were saddled with a huge indemnity and bound 
to engage in no war without the consent of Rome. Carthage 
thus became a dependent ally of the Roman city. 

In describing the course and outcome of the Second Punic 
War our sympathies naturally go out to the heroic figure of 
Hannibal, who fought so long and so bravely for victorious 
his native land. It is clear, however, that Rome's Ro"^^ 
victory in the gigantic struggle was essential to the continued 
progress of classical civiHzation. The triumph of Carthage in the 
third century, hke that of Persia in the fifth century ,2 must have 
resulted in the spread of Oriental ideas and customs through- 
out the Mediterranean. From this fate Rome saved Europe. 

1 Livy, xxii, 6i. » See page loo. 



1 68 The Great Age of the Roman Republic 



58. Roman Supremacy in the West and in the East, 
201-133 B.C. 

Carthage had been humbled, but not destroyed. She still 
enjoyed the advantages of her magnificent situation and con- 
Third Punic tinned to be a competitor of Rome for the trade of 
War begun, the Mediterranean. The Romans watched with 
jealousy the reviving strength of the Punic city 
and at last determined to blot it out of existence. In 149 B.C. a 




A Testudo 

A relief from the Column of Trajan, Rome. The name testudo, a tortoise (shell), was ap- 
plied to the covering made by a body of soldiers who placed their shields over their heads. 
The shields fitted so closely together that men could walk on them and even horses and 
chariots could be driven over them. 

large army was landed in Africa, and the inhabitants of Carthage 
w^ere ordered to remove ten miles from the sea. They resolved 
to perish in the ruins of their capital, rather than obey such a 
cruel command. 

Carthage held out for three years. The doubtful honor of its 
capture belonged to Scipio iEmilianus, grandson, by adoption, 
Destruction ^^ ^^^ victor of Zama. For seven days the legion- 
of Carthage, aries fought their way, street by street, house by 

146 B C 

* * house, until only fifty thousand inhabitants were 

left to surrender to the tender mercies of the Romans. The 



Roman Supremacy in the West and in the East 169 

Senate ordered that the city should be burned and that its site 
should be plowed up and dedicated to the infernal gods. 
Such was the end of the most formidable rival Rome ever met 
in her career of conquest.^ 

The two European countries, Sicily and Spain, which Rome 
had taken from Carthage, presented to the conqueror very 
different problems. Sicily had been long accus- 
tomed to foreign masters. Its civilized and peace- 
loving inhabitants were as ready to accept Roman rule as, in 
the past, they had accepted the rule of Greeks and Car- 
thaginians. Every year the island became more and more a 
part of Italy and of Rome. 

Spain, on the contrary, gave the Romans some hard fighting. 
The wild Spanish tribes loved their liberty, and in their moun- 
tain fastnesses long kept up a desperate struggle . 
for independence. It was not until the Romans 
sent Scipio i^milianus to Spain that the Spanish resistance was 
finally overcome (133 B.C.). 

All Spain, except the inaccessible mountain district in the 
northwest, now became Roman territory. Many colonists 
settled there; traders and speculators flocked to Romaniza- 
the seaports; even the legionaries, quartered in *^°^ ®^ Spam 
Spain for long periods, married Spanish wives and, on retiring 
from active service, made their homes in the peninsula. Rome 
thus continued in Spain the process of Romanization which she 
had begun in Italy.^ She was to repeat this process in Gaul 
and Britain.^ Her way was prepared by the sword; but after 
the sword came civilization. 

While Rome was subduing the West, she was also extending 
her influence over the highly civilized peoples of the East. 
Roman interference in the affairs of Macedonia Rome and 
found an excuse in the attempt of that country, Macedonia 
during the Second Punic War, to give aid to Hannibal. It 

1 In 29 B.C., one hundred and seventeen years after the destruction of Carthage 
at the end of the Punic wars, a new town was founded near the old site by the 
emperor Augustus. It became in time the third city of the Roman Empire. It 
was destroyed by the Arabs in 698 a.d. 

2 See page 158. 3 gee pages 184 and 197. 



170 The Great Age of the Roman Repubhc 

was a fateful moment when, for the second time, the legion 
faced the phalanx. The easy victory over Macedonia showed 
that this Hellenistic kingdom was no match for the Italian re- 
public. Macedonia was finally made into a subject state or 
province of Rome. Thus disappeared a great powder, which 
Philip had founded and which Alexander had led to the con- 
quest of the world. 




Storming a City (Reconstruction) 

Having subdued Macedonia, Rome proclaimed Greece a 
free state. But this "freedom" really meant subjection, as was 
Rome and amply proved when some of the Greek cities rose 
Greece jj^ revolt against Roman domination. The heavy 

hand of Roman vengeance especially descended on Corinth, at 
this time one of the most beautiful cities of the world. In 146 
B.C., the same year in which the destruction of Carthage oc- 
curred, Corinth was sacked and burned to the ground.^ The 
fall of Corinth may be said to mark the final extinction of Greek 
liberty. Though the Hellenic cities and states were allowed to 

1 Corinth offered too good a site to remain long in ruins. Resettled in 46 B.C. 
as a Roman colony, it soon became one of the great cities in the empire. It was to 
the Corinthians that St. Paul wrote two of his Epistles. 



The Mediterranean World under Roman Rule 171 

rule themselves, they paid tribute and thus acknowledged the 
supremacy of Rome. A century later, Greece became in name, 
as well as in fact, a province of the Roman Empire.^ 

Rome, in the meantime, was drawn into a conflict with the 
kingdom of Syria. That Asiatic power proved to be no more 
capable than Macedonia of checking the Roman Rome and 
advance. The Syrian king had to give up the ^^"^ 
greater part of his possessions in Asia Minor. The western part 
of the peninsula, together with the Greek cities on the coast, 
was formed in 133 B.C. into the province of Asia. Thus the 
same year that witnessed the complete establishment of Roman 
rule in Spain saw Rome gain her first possessions at the op- 
posite end of the Mediterranean. 

Roman supremacy over the Mediterranean world was now all 
but complete. In 264 B.C. Rome had been only one of the five 
great Mediterranean states. In 133 b.c no other ponticai situ- 
power existed to match its strength with that of ation in 133 
Rome. To her had fallen in the West the heritage * * 
of Carthage, in the East the heritage of Alexander. Rome had 
built up this mighty empire at a terrible cost in blood and treas- 
ure. Let us see what use she was to make of it. 

59. The Mediterranean World under Roman Rule 

Rome's dealings with the new dependencies across the sea 
did not follow the methods that had proved so successful in 
Italy. The Italian peoples had been treated with creation of 
great liberality. Rome regarded them as alhes, the provincial 
exempted them from certain taxes, and in many ^^^ ®™ 
instances gave them Roman citizenship. It did not seem possi- 
ble to extend this wise policy to remote and often barbarous 
lands beyond the borders of Italy. Rome adopted, instead, 
much the same system of imperial rule that had been previously 
followed by Persia and by Athens.^ She treated the foreign 

' The Greeks were not again a free people until the nineteenth century of our era. 
In 182 1 A.D. they rose against their Turkish masters in a glorious struggle for liberty. 
Eight years later the powers of Europe forced the Sultan to recognize the freedom 
of Greece. That country then became an independent kingdom, with its capital 
at Athens. 2 gee pages 39-40 and 104, 



172 The Great Age of the Roman RepubHc 

peoples from Spain and Asia as subjects and made her con- 
quered territories into provinces.^ Their inhabitants were com- 
pelled to pay tribute and to accept the oversight of Roman 
officials. 

As the Romans came more and more to relish the opportu- 
nities for plunder afforded by a wealthy province, its inhabitants 
Evils of the ^^^^ often wretchedly misgoverned. Many gov- 
provincial ernors of the conquered lands were corrupt and 
sys em grasping men. They tried to wring all the money 

they could from their helpless subjects. To the extortions of the 
governors must be added those of the tax collectors, whose very 
name of "publican" ^ became a byword for all that was rapa- 
cious and greedy. In this first effort to manage the world she 
had won, Rome had certainly made a failure. A city-state 
could not rule, with justice and efficiency, an empire. 

In the old days, before Rome entered on a career of foreign 
conquest, her citizens were famous among men for their love of 
The profits Country, their simple lives, and their conservative, 
of conquest old-fashioned ways. They worked hard on their 
little farms, fought bravely in the legions, and kept up with 
careful piety all the ceremonies of their religion. But now the 
Roman republic was an imperial power with all the privileges 
of universal rule. Her foreign wars proved to be immensely 
profitable. At the end of a successful campaign the soldiers 
received large gifts from their general, besides the booty taken 
from the enemy. The Roman state itself profited from the sale 
of enslaved prisoners and their property. Large sums of money 
were sometimes seized and taken to Rome. When once peace 
had been made, the Roman governors and tax collectors fol- 
lowed in the wake of the armies and squeezed the provincials at 
every turn. The Romans, indeed, seem to have conquered the 
world less for glory than for profit. 

So much wealth poured into Rome from every side that there 

^ In 133 B.C. there were eight provinces — Sicily, Sardinia and Corsica, Hither 
Spain, Farther Spain, lUyricum, Africa, Macedonia, and Asia. See the map facing 
page 184. 

2 In the New Testament "publicans and sinners" are mentioned side by side. 
See Matthew, ix, 10. 



The Mediterranean World under Roman Rule 173 

could scarcely fail to be a sudden growth of luxurious tastes. 
Rich nobles quickly developed a relish for all Growth of 
sorts of reckless display. They built fine houses i^^^y 
adorned with statues, costly paintings, and furnishings. They 
surrounded themselves with troops of slaves. Instead of plain 
linen clothes they and their wives wore garments of silk and 
gold. At their banquets they spread embroidered carpets, 
purple coverings, and dishes of gilt plate. Pomp and splendor 
replaced the rude simplicity of an earlier age. 

But if the rich were becoming richer, it seems that the poor 
were also becoming poorer. After Rome became mistress of 
the Mediterranean, her markets were flooded with Disappear- 
the cheap wheat raised in the provinces, especially ance of the 
in those granaries, Sicily and Africa. The price P^^^^^^^y 
of wheat fell so low that Roman peasants could not raise 
enough to support their families and pay their taxes. When 
agriculture became unprofitable, the farmer was no longer able 
to remain on the soil. He had to sell out, often at a ruinous 
sacrifice. His land was bought by capitalists, who turned many 
small fields into vast sheep pastures and cattle ranches. Gangs 
of slaves, laboring under the lash, gradually took the place 
of the old Roman peasantry, the very strength of the state. 
Not unjust was the famous remark, ''Great domains ruined 
Italy." 1 

The decline of agriculture and the disappearance of the small 
farmer under the stress of foreign competition may be studied 
in modern England as well as in ancient Italy. The exodus 
Nowadays an English farmer, under the same cir- *° *^® cities, 
cumstances, will often emigrate to America or to Australia, 
where land is cheap and it is easy to make a living. But these 
Roman peasants did not care to go abroad and settle on better 
soil in Spain or in Africa. They thronged, instead, to the cities, 
to Rome especially, where they labored for a small wage, fared 
plainly on wheat bread, and dwelt in huge lodging houses, 
three or four stories high. 

We know very little about this poorer population of Rome. 

1 Latifundia perdidere Italiam (Pliny, Natural History, xviii, 7) . 



174 The Great Age of the Roman RepubHc 

They must have hved from hand to mouth. Since their votes 

, controlled elections,^ they were courted by candi- 
The city mob -^ 

dates for office and kept from grumbling by being 

fed and amused. Such poor citizens, too lazy for steady work, 
too intelligent to starve, formed, with the other riffraff of a great 
city, the elements of a dangerous mob. And the mob, hence- 
forth, plays an ever-larger part in the history of the times. 

We must not imagine, however, that all the changes in Roman 
life worked for evil. If the Romans were becoming more luxu- 
Hellenic in- ^i^us, they were likewise gaining in culture. The 
fluence at conquests which brought Rome in touch, first with 
°°^® Magna Graecia and Sicily, then with Greece itself 

and the Hellenic East, prepared the way for the entrance of 
Hellenism. Roman soldiers and traders carried back to Italy 
an acquaintance with Greek customs and ideas. Thousands of 
cultivated Greeks, some as slaves, others as freemen, settled in 
the capital as actors, physicians, artists, and writers. There 
they introduced the Greek language, as well as the religion, 
literature, and art of their native land. Roman nobles of the 
better type began to take an interest in other things than simply 
farming, commerce, or war. They imitated Greek fashions in 
dress and manners, collected Greek books, and filled their 
homes with the productions of Greek artists. Henceforth every 
aspect of Roman society felt the quickening influence of the 
older, richer culture of the Hellenic world. It was a» Roman 
poet who wrote, ''Captive Greece captured her conqueror 

rude." 2 

60. The Gracchi 

In 133 B.C., a year otherwise made memorable by the final 
subjugation of Spain and the acquisition of Asia, efforts began 
Tiberius and ^^ Rome to remedy some of the disorders which 
Gains Grac- were now Seen to be sapping the strength of Roman 
^ ^^ society. The first persons to undertake the work 

of reform were the two brothers, Tiberius and Gains Gracchus. 
The Gracchi belonged to the highest nobility of Rome. Their 
father had filled a consulship and a censorship and had cele- 

1 See page 155. ^ Horace, Epistles, ii, i, 156. 



i 



The Gracchi 175 

brated triumphs. Cornelia, their mother, was a daughter of 
Scipio Africanus, the conqueror of Hannibal. A fine type of 
the Roman matron, she called her boys her "jewels," more 
precious than gold, and brought them up to love their country 
better than their own lives. Tiberius, the elder brother, was 
only thirty years of age when he became a tribune and began 
his career in Roman politics. 

Tiberius signalized his election to the tribunate by bringing 
forward his celebrated agrarian law. He proposed that the 
public lands of Rome, then largely occupied by Agrarian law 
wealthy men who alone had the money neces- of Tiberius 
sary to work them with cattle and slaves, should ^^^^ ^^ 
be reclaimed by the state, divided into small tracts, and given to 
the poorer citizens. By getting the people back again on the 
soil, Tiberius hoped to revive the declining agriculture of Italy. 

This agrarian law, though well intentioned, did not go to the 
root of the real difficulty — foreign competition. No legislation 
could have helped the farming class, except import defects of 
duties to keep out the cheap grain from abroad, the agrarian 
But the idle mob at Rome, controlling the assem- ^^ 
blies, would never have voted in favor of taxing their food, thus 
making it more expensive. At the same time the proposal to take 
away part of the public domains from its possessors roused a hor- 
net's nest about the reformer's ears. Rich people had occupied 
the pubHc land for so long that they had come to look upon it as 
really their own. They would be very sure to oppose such a meas- 
ure. Poor people, of course, welcomed a scheme which promised 
to give them farms for nothing. Tiberius even wished to use 
the public funds to stock the farms of his new peasantry. This 
would have been a mischievous act of state philanthropy. 

In spite of these defects in his measure, Tiberius urged its 
passage with fiery eloquence. But the great land- 

• .1 r- T .,1 1 Failure and 

owners m the benate got another tribune, devoted death of 
to their interests, to place his veto ^ on the proposed Tiberius, 

1 • I • 133 S*C/« 

legislation. The impatient Tiberius at once took a 
revolutionary step. Though a magistrate could not legally be 

1 See page 150. 



176 The Great Age of the Roman RepubKc 

removed from office, Tiberius had the offending tribune deposed 
and dragged from his seat. The law was then passed without 
further opposition. This action of Tiberius placed him clearly 
in the wrong. The aristocrats threatened to punish him as soon 
as his term of office was over. To avoid impeachment Tiberius 
sought reelection to the tribunate for the following year. This, 
again, was contrary to custom, since no one might hold office 
for two successive terms. On the day appointed for the elec- 
tion, while voting was in progress, a crowd of angry senators 
burst into the Forum and killed Tiberius, together with three 
hundred of his followers. Both sides had now begun to display 
an utter disregard for law. Force and bloodshed, henceforth, 
were to help decide political disputes. 

Tiberius Gracchus, in his efforts to secure economic reform, 
had unwittingly provoked a conflict between the Senate and the 

assemblies. Ten years after his death, his brother. 
Gams Grac- . , . ' 

chus becomes Gaius Gracchus, came to the front. Gains quickly 

tnbune, rnade himself a popular leader with the set pur- 

pose of remodeling the government of Rome. 
He found in the tribunate an office from which to work 
against the Senate. After the death of Tiberius a law had 
been passed permitting a man to hold the position of tribune 
year after year. Gaius intended to be a sort of perpetual 
tribune, and to rule the Roman assemblies very much as 
Pericles had ruled the people at Athens.^ One of his first 
measures was a law permitting the sale of grain from the 
public storehouses to Roman citizens at about half the 
market price. This measure, of course, won over the city 
mob, but it must be regarded as very unwise. It saddled 
the treasury with a heavy burden, and later the government 
had to furnish the grain for nothing. Indiscriminate charity 
of this sort increased, rather than lessened, the number of 
paupers. 

Having won popular support, Gaius was able to secure the 
additional legislation which he deemed necessary to carry out 
his brother's work. He reenacted the land laws for the benefit 

i See page 103. 



The Gracchi 177 

of the peasantry and furnished work for the unemployed by 

building roads throughout Italy. He also began Measures of 

to establish colonies of poor citizens, both in Italy Gaius to re- 

and in the provinces. This was a wise policy. ^^^^ * ® ^^^^ 

Had it been allowed to continue, such state-assisted emigration, 

by providing the landless poor of Italy with farms abroad, 

would have relieved the economic distress of the peninsula. 

Gaius now came forward with another measure which marked 

him as an able and prudent statesman. He proposed to bestow 

the right of voting in the Roman assemblies upon , 

. , ° , . ^ An effort to 

the inhabitants of the Latin colonies.^ He thought, extend 

also, that the Italian aUies should be allowed to Ro^^n 

• 1 T~. citizenship 

mtermarry with Romans and hold property under 

the protection of the Roman law. No doubt Gaius believed 

that the time might come when all the Italian peoples would 

be citizens of Rome. This time did come, thirty years later, 

but only after a terrible war that nearly ruined Rome. 

The effort by Gaius to extend Roman citizenship cost the 

reformer all his hard-won popularity. It aroused the jealousy 

of the selfish city mob, which believed that the ^ „ 

. . Failure and 

entrance of so many new citizens would mean the death of 

loss of its privileges. There would not be so many Jl^,^^' 
free shows and so much cheap grain. So the people 
rejected the measure and, turning from their former favorite, 
failed to reelect him to the tribunate. When Gaius was no 
longer protected by the sanctity of the tribune's office,^ he 
fell an easy victim to senatorial hatred. Another bloody 
tumult broke out, in which Gaius and three thousand of 
his followers perished. The consul who quelled the disturb- 
ance erected at the head of the Forum a temple to Harmony 
{Concordia) . 

The pathetic career of the Gracchi had much significance in 
Roman history. They were the unconscious spon- r^^^ Gracchi 
sors of a revolutionary movement which did not begin the rev- 
end until the republic had come under the rule of 
one man. They failed because they put their trust in the 

1 See page 155, note 2. 2 See page 150. 



1 78 The Great Age of the Roman RepubHc 

support of the Roman mob. Future agitators were to appear 
with the legionaries at their heels. 

61. Marius and Sulla 

Although Rome now ruled throughout the Mediterranean, 

she was constantly engaged in border wars in one corner or 

another of her wide dominions. These wars 
Manus and 
the Jugur- brought to the front new military leaders, of whom 

thine War, |-]^g ^j^gt was Gaius Marius. He was a peasant's 

112-106 B.C. . ^ 

son, a coarse, rude soldier, but an honest, coura- 
geous, and able man. Marius rose to prominence in the so- 
called Jugurthine War, which the Romans were waging against 
Jugurtha, king of Numidia. That wily African had discovered 
that it was easier to bribe the Roman commanders than to 
fight them; and the contest dragged on in disgraceful fashion 
year after year. Marius at last persuaded the people to elect 
him consul and intrust him with the conduct of the war. By 
generalship and good fortune he speedily concluded the 
struggle and brought Jugurtha in chains to Rome. 

A few years later Marius had another opportunity to win 
distinction. He became the defender of Rome and Italy against 

„ . , a dangerous invasion of Germanic barbarians, who 
Manus and ° . ^ i i i -r. tt n 

the war with were ravaging Transalpine Gaul and the Po Valley. 

!^«^^!^^^' The decisive victories which Marius gained over 

102-101 B.C. , ^ ^ , . , , 

them removed a grave danger which threatened 
the Roman world. The time had not yet come for ancient 
civilization to be submerged under a wave of barbarism. 

The second miHtary leader whom this troubled period 
brought forth was Lucius Cornelius Sulla. He was a man of 
Sulla and the i^'^ble birth, and with his social gifts, his appre- 
Sociai War, ciation of art and letters, his knowledge of men 

90-88 B.C. , , , , , , 

and the world, presented a sharp contrast to 
Marius. Sulla's great abihties quickly brought him into pubhc 
notice; he rose rapidly from one office to another; and in the 
Social War showed his skill as a commander. This struggle was 
the consequence of Rome's refusal to grant the rights of citizen- 
ship to her Italian alhes. The strength of the rebellion lay 



Marius and Sulla 179 

among the Samnites and other peoples of central and southern 

Italy. The war came to an end only when Rome promised the 

franchise to all Italians who returned to their allegiance. Before 

many years had passed, the inhabitants of nearly all the Italian 

towns south of the Rubicon River received Roman citizenship. 

It was, this same wise policy of making conquered peoples equal 

with herself that afterwards led Rome to grant citizenship to 

the inhabitants of the provinces.^ 

What military honors were gained in the struggle belonged 

to Sulla. His reward was the consulship and an appointment 

as general in still another conflict which distracted „ „ 

^ Sulla and the 

Rome had to face. While that city had been busy Mithradatic 

with civil enemies and barbarian foes, a powerful War, 88-84 

B.C. 

state, known as Pontus, had been growing up 
in Asia Minor. Its king, Mithradates, overran the Roman 
provinces in the Orient and threatened to annex them to his 
own kingdom. But Sulla, with greatly inferior forces, com- 
pelled Mithradates to abandon his conquests, surrender his 
fleet, and pay a large indemnity. If Marius had the honor 
of repelling the barbarian invasion of the West, Sulla had the 
honor of preserving Rome's possessions in the East. 

Marius and Sulla were rivals not only in war but also in pol- 
itics. Sulla naturally espoused the aristocratic cause and stood 
as the champion of the Senate. Marius just as Rivalry of 
naturally became the head of the democratic Marius and 
party. The rivalry between the two leaders finally 
led to civil war. During Sulla's absence in the East the demo- 
crats got the upper hand at Rome and revenged themselves by 
murdering their political foes among the aristocrats. The 
reign of terror ended only with the sudden death of Marius, 
just after he had been elected to his seventh consulship. A few 
years later Sulla returned to Italy with his army and defeated 
the democrats in a great battle outside the CoUine Gate of 
Rome. Sulla signalized his victory by ordering the assassination 
of every prominent man in the democratic party. 

Sulla regarded this legalized butchery as a necessary step in 

» See page 204. 



i8o The Great Age of the Roman RepubKc 

his self-appointed task of putting the Roman government once 
Sulla as more to rights. He now received the title of "Per- 

" Perpetual petual Dictator," with complete authority to 
govern the state until the new order of things 
should be established. Rome thus came under the rule of one 
man for the first time since the expulsion of the kings. 

The various measures by which Sulla intrenched the Senate 
in power did not long survive his death and hence had no last- 
Sulla's death, ing influence on Roman politics. After a rule of 
78 B.C. three years Sulla voluntarily gave up the dictator- 

ship and retired to his villa on the bay of Naples. He died a 

few months later. The Senate 
honored him with a public funeral, 
the most splendid that Rome had 
ever seen. His monument bore an 
inscription which the dictator him- 
self is said to have composed: "No 
friend ever did him a kindness and 
no enemy, a wrong, without being 
fully repaid." ^ That was one epi- 
taph which told the truth. 

62. Pompey and Caesar 

The struggle between Marius and 

Sulla, decided as it was by the 

„ -r. ^T Rise of sword, marks a stage 

Gn^us Pompeius Magnus t, . ' • ,. . f 

Pompey ^ the declme of the 

Spada Palace, Rome . 

Roman Republic. The careers of 
these two men showed how easily the state could be ruled by a 
successful commander who had his soldiers behind him. After 
Sulla's death his friend Pompey became the leading figure in 
Roman politics. Pompey 's first service was in Spain, where the 
adherents of Marius sought to humble the Senate and the aris- 
tocratic party by encouraging the Spaniards to rise against Ro- 
rAan rule. Having crushed this rebellion, Pompey returned to 
Italy in time to take part in putting down a formidable insur- 

1 Plutarch, Sulla, 38. 




Pompey and Caesar 



i8i 



rection of slaves, outlaws, and ruined peasants. He was next 
intrusted with the war against the pirates, who swarmed in the 
Mediterranean, preyed on commerce, and plundered wealthy 
cities near the coast. Brilliant success in clearing the seas of 
these marauders led to his being sent to the East to end the 
war with Mithradates, who was once more in arms against 
Rome. Pompey drove the 
Pontic monarch from his king- 
dom and then annexed Syria 
to the Roman dominions. 
When Pompey returned to 
Rome in 62 B.C., he brought 
with him a reputation as the 
most successful general of his 
time. 

We have seen how steadily 
since the days of the Gracchi 
the Roman state Marcus 
had been moving Tullius Cicero 
toward the rule of one man. 
Marius, Sulla, and Pompey 
each represent a step in the 
direction of monarchy. Yet 
there were still able and patriotic leaders at Rome who be- 
lieved in the old order of things and tried their best to uphold 
the fast-perishing republic. No republican statesman was more 
devoted to the constitution than Cicero. A native of Arpinum, 
the same Italian town which had already given birth to Marius, 
Cicero came to Rome a youth without w^ealth or family influ- 
ence. He made his way into Roman society by his social and 
conversational powers and by his capacity for friendship. His 
mind had been carefully trained under the influence of Hellenic 
culture; he had traveled and studied in Greece; and through- 
out life he loved to steal away from the tumult of the Forum 
and the law courts and enjoy the companionship of his books. 
Though the proud nobles were inclined to look down on him 
as a ''new man," Cicero's splendid eloquence soon gave him 




Marcus Tullius Cicero 

Vatican Museum, Rome 



1 82 The Great Age of the Roman RepubKc 

prominence in politics. He ranks in fame as the second orator 
of antiquity, inferior only to Demosthenes. 

Cicero rose to prominence through his prosecution of Verres, 
a thieving governor of Sicily. Verres had powerful friends 
Impeachment ^"long the nobles at Rome and counted on his 
of Verres, influence and wealth to escape punishment. He 

70 B C 

openly boasted that he had plunder enough to 
live in luxury, even though he had to surrender two-thirds of it 
as fees to his lawyers and bribes to the jury. But Verres had 
not reckoned with the brilliant young advocate who took up 
the cause of the oppressed provincials. Cicero hurried to Sicily 
and there collected such an overwhelming mass of evidence that 
the bare statement of the facts was enough to condemn the 
criminal. Verres went into exile. Cicero became the head of 
the Roman bar. Seven years later he was elected consul. 

The year of Cicero's consulship was marked by an event 
which throws a lurid light on the conditions of the time. Lucius 
Conspiracy of Catihne, a young noble of ability, but bankrupt in 
Catiline, character arid purse, organized a conspiracy to 

seize Rome, murder the magistrates, and plunder 
the rich. He gathered about himself outlaws of every descrip- 
tion, slaves, and starving peasants — all the discontented and 
needy classes throughout Italy. He and his associates were 
desperate anarchists who sought to restore their own broken 
fortunes 'by overturning the government. The spread of the in- 
surrection was checked by Cicero's vigorous measures. In a 
series of famous speeches he exposed Catiline's plans to the 
astounded Senate. Catiline then fled to his camp in Etruria 
and shortly afterwards perished in battle, together with three 
thousand of his followers. Cicero now gained fresh popularity' 
and honor. The grateful citizens cafled him ''Father of his 
Country" {Pater Patrice). 

Rome at this time held another prominent leader in politics, 
namely, Gains Julius Caesar. He belonged to a noble family. 
Rise of but his father had favored the democratic cause 

Caesar ^^^ j^jg ^^^j^^ }^^^ married Marius. After Sulla's 

death Caesar threw himself with energy into the game of politics 



Pompey and Caesar 



183 



at the capital city. In these early years the future statesman 
seems to have been a demagogue of the usual type, who 
sought through the favor of the people a rapid rise to power. 
He won the ear of the multitude by his fiery harangues, his 
bribes of money, and his gifts of food and public shows. 
Caesar's expenditures for such purposes 
were enormous. Before he was twenty- 
four he had spent all his private for- 
tune. Henceforth he was "financed" 
by the millionaire Crassus, who lent 
him the money so necessary for a suc- 
cessful career as a politician. 

Caesar and Crassus, the two leaders 
of the democratic party at Rome, now 
joined with Pompey in ^j^^ -p-^^^^ 
what is called the First Triumvirate, 
Triumvirate. To this 
''ring" Pompey contributed his mili- 
tary reputation, Crassus, his wealth, 
and Caesar, his influence over the Ro- 
man mob. Supported both by the 
people and by the army, these three 
men were really masters of Rome. 
An immediate result of the First Tri- 
umvirate was the appointment of Caesar as governor of 
Cisalpine and Transalpine Gaul. 

The story of his career in Gaul has been related by Caesar 
himself in the famous Commentaries. This book describes a 
series of military successes which have given the 
author a place among the world's generals. Caesar campaigns 
overran Transalpine Gaul, twice bridged the Rhine "J^ ^^^^' ^^~ 
and invaded Germany, made two expeditions to 
Britain, and brought within the Roman dominions all the ter- 
ritory bounded by the Pyrenees, the Alps, the Rhine, and the 
Atlantic Ocean. 

Caesar's conquests in Gaul are more than a chapter in the 
history of the art of war. They belong to the history of civili- 




Gaius Julius C^sar 

British Museum, London 



184 The Great Age of the Roman RepubHc 

zation. Henceforth the frontier of prehistoric Europe retreated 
Romaniza- rapidly to the north. The map of the ancient civi- 
tion of Gaul Hzed world widened from the Mediterranean basin 
to the shores of the Atlantic. Into the conquered lands came 
the Latin language, the Roman law, and the customs and in- 
stitutions of Rome. Gaul speedily became one of the most 
flourishing parts of the Roman world. "Let the Alps sink," 
exclaimed Cicero, "the gods raised them to shelter Italy from 
the barbarians, but now they are no longer needed." 

During Caesar's long absence in Gaul the First Triumvirate 
was suddenly ended by the death of one of its members. It 
had been a part of their bargain in dividing the 
death of Roman world that Crassus should have the govern- 

^q^l^r^' ment of Syria. But this unlucky general, while 

aspiring to rival Caesar's exploits by new con- 
quests beyond the Euphrates, lost his army and his life in battle 
with the Parthians. Besides checking the extension of the 
Roman arms in the remote East, the disaster had its effect 
on Roman politics. It dissolved the triumvirate and prepared 
the way for that rivalry between Caesar and Pompey which 
formed the next step in the downward course of the republic. 

The two men were now rapidly drawing apart. Pompey 
grew more and more jealous of Caesar and more and more fear- 
ful that the latter was aiming at despotic power. 

Growing op- . <-> X X 

position be- He himself had no desire to be king or dictator, 
tween Pompey jjg ^^^ equally determined that Caesar should not 

gain such a position. In this attitude he had the 
full support of Cicero and the other members of the Senate. 
They saw clearly that the real danger to the state was Caesar, 
not Pompey. 

Caesar's command in Gaul was to expire in 49 B.C. The sen- 
atorial party desired that he should return to Rome without 

an army. His opponents intended to prosecute 
Clares war on him when he became a private citizen. Caesar had 
in^J^/?"^^^^' 1^0 inclination to trust himself to their tender 

mercies and refused to disband his legions unless 
his rival did the same. Finally the Senate, conscious of Pom- 




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Pompey and Caesar 185 

pey's support, ordered him to lay down his arms on pain of 
outlawry. Caesar replied to this challenge of the Senate by 
leading his troops across the Rubicon, the little stream that 
separated Cisalpine Gaul from Italy. As he plunged into the 
river, he exclaimed, "The die is cast." ^ He had now declared 
war on the republic. 

Caesar's bold movement caught the senatorial party un- 
awares. Pompey could not gather his legions before his auda- 
cious foe reached Rome. Finding it impossible to csesar mas- 
make a stand in Italy, Pompey, with the consuls ter of the 
and many senators, withdrew to Greece. Caesar 
did not follow him at once. He hurried to Spain and, after a 
brilliant campaign only six w^eks in length, broke down the 
republican resistance in that peninsula. Having now secured 
Italy and Spain, Caesar was free to turn his forces against 
Pompey in the East. 

The final battle took place on the plain of Pharsalus in Thes- 
saly. Pompey 's troops, though nearly twice as numerous as 
Caesar's, were defeated after a severe struggle. Battle of 
Their great leader then fled to Egypt, only to be Pharsalus, 48 
foully murdered. Pompey's head was sent to 
CiEsar, but he turned from it with horror. Such was the end of 
an able general and an honest man, one who should have lived 
two hundred years earlier, when Rome was still a free state. 

After Pharsalus there still remained- several years of fighting 

before Caesar's victory was complete. He made Cleopatra, the 

beautiful queen of Eg\pt, secure in the possession of casar in 

the throne and brought that country into depend- Jsyp*' ^^la 
T^ Tx 11 1 A • n/r- 1 Minor, and 

ence on Rome. He passed through Asia Minor and Africa, 48-46 

in one swift campaign crushed a revolt headed by ^•^• 
the son of Mithradates. The conqueror sent tidings of his vic- 
tory in a laconic dispatch: ''I came, I saw, I conquered." ^ After 
subduing the remnants of the senatorial party in Africa, Caesar 
returned home to crown his exploits by a series of splendid tri- 
umphs and to enjoy less than two years of untrammeled power. 

1 Suetonius, Julius CcRsar, 32. 

2 Veni, vidi, vici (Suetonius, Julius Casar, 37). 



1 86 The Great Age of the Roman RepubHc 



63. The Work of Caesar 

The new government which Caesar brought into being was a 
monarchy in all except name. He became dictator for life and 
Authority and ^^^^ Other repubHcan offices, such as the consul- 
position of ship and censorship. He refused the title of king, 
*^^ but accepted as a civil magistrate the name of 

imperator,^ with which the soldiers had been wont to salute a 

victorious general. 
Though he abolished 
none of the old repub- 
lican forms, the Sen- 
ate became simply his 
advisory council, the 
assemblies, his sub- 





A Roman Coin with the Head of 
Julius C^sar 



missive agents, the 



consuls, praetors, and 
tribunes, his pliant tools. The laurel wreath, the triumphal 
dress, the conqueror's scepter — all proclaimed the autocrat. 

Caesar used his power wisely and well. No massacres or con- 
fiscations sullied his victory. He treated his former foes with 
Character of clemency and even with kindness. No sooner was 
Caesar's rule domestic tranquillity assured than, wdth restless 
energy, he entered on a series of far-reaching reforms. 

Caesar's measures sought to remove the economic evils which 
a century of discord had made so manifest. By restricting the 
Reforms at nionthly distribution of grain to those actually in 
Rome and in need, he tried to discourage the public charity 
^^ which was making the capital city a paradise for 

the idle and the shiftless. By planning great colonies beyond 
the sea, notably at Corinth and Carthage, he sought to provide 
farms for the landless citizens of Italy. His active mind even 
found time for such matters as the codification of Roman law, 
the construction of great public works, and the improvement of 
the coinage and the calendar.^ 

1 Hence our word " emperor." 

2 Before Caesar's reform (46 B.C.) the Roman year consisted of 12 months and 
355 days. As this lunar year, like that of the Greeks, was shorter than the solar 



The Work of Caesar 187 

Caesar's reforms in the provinces had an epoch-making char- 
acter. He reduced taxes, lessened the burden of their collection, 
and took into his own hands the appointment of Reformation 
provincial magistrates. Henceforth oppressive of the provin- 
governors and swindling publicans had to expect ^^ ^^^ ^^ 
swift, stern punishment from one whose interests included the 
welfare of both citizens and subjects. By granting Roman citi- 
zenship to communities in Gaul and Sicily, he indicated his 
purpose, as rapidly as possible, to convert the provincials into 
Romans. It was Caesar's aim to break down the barriers 
between Rome and her provinces, to wipe out the distinction 
between the conquerors and the conquered. 

Caesar did not live to complete his task. Like that other 
colossal figure, Alexander the Great, he perished before his 
work as a statesman had hardly more than begun. Assassina- 
On the Ides of March, 44 B.C., he was struck down tionof Caesar, 
in the Senate-house by the daggers of a group of 
envious and irreconcilable nobles, headed by Cassius and Bru- 
tus. He fell at the foot of Pompey's statue, pierced with no 
less than twenty-three wounds. His body was burnt on a pyre 
in the Forum, and his friend, Antony, pronounced the funeral 
eulogy. 

In the light of all the possibilities of beneficent government 
which Caesar was revealing, his cowardly murder becomes one 
of the most stupendous follies recorded in history, consequences 
Caesar's death could not restore the republic. It of Caesar's 
served only to prolong disorder and strife within ^^ 
the Roman state. As Cicero himself said, hearing the news, 
^'The tyrant is dead; the tyranny still lives." 

year, it had been necessary to intercalate an additional month, of varying length, in 
every alternate year. Caesar adopted the more accurate Egyptian calendar of 
36s days and instituted the system of leap years. His rearrangement made the year 
II minutes, 14 seconds too long. By 1582 a.d. this difference had amounted to 
nearly 10 days. Pope Gregory XIII modified the "Julian Calendar" by calling 
Oct. 5, 1582, Oct. 15, and continuing the count 10 days in advance. This " Grego- 
rian Calendar" was adopted by Great Britain in 1752 a.d. and subsequently by 
other Protestant countries. It has not won acceptance in Russia and Greece. 
The difference between the two systems — the Old Style and the New Style — is 
now about 13 days. 



1 88 The Great Age of the Roman RepubHc 

64. Antony and Octavian 

The murderers of Caesar called themselves the ''liberators" of 
the republic. They thought that all Rome would applaud their 
Antony be- deed, but the contrary was true. The senatorial 
comes Caesar's order remained lukewarm. The people, instead of 
successor flocking to their support, mourned the loss of a 
friend and benefactor. Soon the conspirators found themselves 
in great peril. Caesar's friend and lieutenant, Antony, w^ho 
became sole consul after Caesar's death, quickly made himself 
master of the situation. Brutus and Cassius were forced to 
withdraw to the provinces w^hich had been previously assigned 
to them by Csesar, leaving Antony to rule Rome as his successor. 

Antony's hope of reigning supreme was soon disturbed by 
the appearance of a new rival. Caesar, in his will, had made 
A rival in the ^^^ grandnephew, Octavian,^ his heir. He now 
young Octa- came to Rome to claim the inheritance. In that 
^^^^ sickly, studious youth people did not at first 

recognize the masterful personality he was soon to exhibit. 
They rather reechoed Cicero's sentiment that 'Hhe young man 
was to be praised, complimented, and got rid of." ^ But 
Octavian easily made himself a power, winning the populace 
by paying Caesar's legacies to them and conciliating the sen- 
atorial party by siding with it against Antony. Men now be- 
gan to talk of Octavian as the destined restorer of the republic. 

Octavian, however, entertained other designs. He had never 
been sincere in his support of the Senate, and the distrustful 
The Second pdicy of that body soon converted him into an 
Triumvirate, active foe. From fighting Antony, Octavian turned 
' ' to alhance with him. The two antagonists made 

up their differences, and with Lepidus, one of Caesar's lieuten- 
ants, as a third ally, marched on Rome at the head of their 
legions. The city fell again under military rule. The three 
men then united in the Second Triumvirate with full authority 
to govern and reorganize the state. The advent of this new 

1 His name was Octavius, but after his adoption by Caesar he called himself 
Gains Julius Caesar Octavianus. sQcero, Letters, xix, 20. 



Antony and Octavian 189 

tyranny was signalized by a butchery almost as bloody as 
Sulla's. Cicero, who had incurred the hatred of Antony by his 
fiery speeches against him, was the most illustrious victim. 
More than two thousand persons, mainly men of high rank, 
were slain. The triumvirs by this massacre firmly established 
their rule at Rome and in the West. 

In the East, where Brutus and Cassius had gathered a for- 
midable force, the triumvirs were not to win without a struggle. 
It took place on the plain of Philippi in Macedonia. Battles of 
The two battles fought there ended in the suicide Philippi, 
of the republican leaders and the dispersal of their ' ' 

troops. This was the last attempt to restore the republic by 
force of arms. 

Though the republic had been overthrown, it remained to be 
seen who would be master of the new empire, Antony or Octa- 
vian. The triumvirate lasted for more than ten Diyision of 
years, but during this period the incompetent the Roman 
Lepidus was set aside by his stronger colleagues. ^°^ 
The two remaining members then divided between them the 
Roman world. Octavian took Italy and the West; Antony 
took the East, with Alexandria as his capital. 

In the western half of the empire Octavian ruled quietly and 
with success. Men were already congratulating themselves on 
the return of peace under a second Caesar. In Octavian in 
a few years Octavian, from an obscure boy of *^^ ^®^* 
eighteen, had grown to be one of the most powerful person- 
alities of his age. 

In the eastern half of the empire things did not go so well. 
Antony was clever, but fond of luxury and vice. He had married 
a sister of Octavian, but he soon grew tired of her Antony in 
and put her away for the fascinating Cleopatra.^ *^® ^^^* 
The Roman world was startled by tidings that she had been 
proclaimed "queen of kings," and that to her and her sons had 
been given the richest provinces in the East. It was even 
rumored that Cleopatra, having enslaved Antony with her 
charms, planned to be enthroned as queen at Rome. 

' See page 185. _ 



iQo The Great Age of the Roman RepubHc 

Antony's disgraceful conduct aroused the Roman people. 
They willingly followed Octavian to a war against one who 
Battle of seemed a national enemy. A naval battle in the 

Actium, bay of Actium, on the coast of Epirus, decided the 

issue. The fight had hardly begun before Cleopatra 
and Antony sailed away, leaving their fleet to take care of itself. 
Octavian pursued the infatuated pair into Egypt. Antony com- 
mitted suicide, and Cleopatra, rather than be led a captive in 
a Roman triumph, followed his example. With the death of 
Cleopatra the dynasty of the Ptolemies ^ came to an end. 
Egypt henceforth formed a province of the Roman Empire. 

Octavian, on his return to Rome, enjoyed the honors of a 
three days' triumph.^ As the grand parade moved along the 
The triumph Sacred Way through the Forum, and thence to 
of Octavian ^}^g temple of Jupiter on the Capitoline, men noted 
that the magistrates, instead of heading the procession as was 
the custom, followed in the conqueror's train. It was a signifi- 
cant change. Octavian, not the magistrates of Rome, now 
ruled the Roman world. 

65. The End of an Epoch 

The republic, indeed, was doomed. A hundred years of dis- 
sension and civil warfare proclaimed clearly enough the failure 
Doom of the of the old order. Rome was a city-state suddenly 
repubhc called to the responsibilities of universal rule. 

Both the machinery of her government and the morals of her 
people were inadequate for so huge a task. The gradual revolu- 
tion which changed this Roman city-state into imperial Rome, 
judged by its results, is perhaps the most momentous move- 
ment in the annals of mankind. Let us summarize its course. 

In 133 B.C. Roman society had been corrupted and enfeebled 
as the result of foreign conquests. The supreme power in the 
A century state more and more tended to fall into the hands 
of revolution ^f ^ narrow oligarchy — the senatorial nobility. 
Its dishonesty and weakness soon led to efforts at reform. The 
attempts of the Gracchi to overthrow the Senate's position and 

1 See page 127. 2 See page 160. 



The End of an Epoch 191 

restore popular sovereignty ended in disaster. Then, in quick 
succession, arose a series of military leaders who aimed to secure 
by the sword what was no longer to be obtained through con- 
stitutional and legal means. Marius, a great general but no 
politician, could only break down and destroy. Sulla, a sincere 
but narrow-minded statesman, could do no more than prop up 
the structure — already tottering — of senatorial rule. Pompey 
soon undid that work and left the constitution to become again 
the sport of rival soldiers. Caesar, triumphing over Pompey, 
gained a position of unchallenged supremacy. After Caesar's 
death, imperial power was permanently restored in the person 
of Octavian. The battle of Actium in 31 B.C. made Octavian 
master of the Roman world. 

But the Romans were not yet an old and worn-out people. 
On the ruins of the old repubhcan order it was still possible to 

build up a new imperial system in which good ^, , 

,.,,,., The future \ 
government, peace, and prosperity should prevail 

for more than two centuries. During this period Rome per- 
formed her real, her enduring, w^ork for civilization. 

Studies 

I. Write a summary account (500 words) of Roman expansion 264-133 B.C. 
2. On outline maps indicate the possessions of Carthage and Rome at the beginning 
of the First Punic War; at the beginning of the Second Punic War; at the end of 
the Second Punic War. 3. On outline maps indicate the boundaries of the Roman 
world in 133 B.C. and in 31 B.C. and the division into provinces at these dates. 
4. What events are connected with the following places: Zama; Cannae; Actium; 
Pharsalus; and Philippi? 5. WTio were Quintus Fabius Maximus, Mithradates, 
Catiline, and Cleopatra? 6. Indentify the following dates: 146 B.C.; 264 B.C.; 
133 B.C.; 201 B.C.; 44 B.C.; and 63 B.C. 7. Why has Carthage been called the 
"London " of the. ancient world? 8. What is meant by the statement that Carthage 
is a "dumb actor on the stage of history"? 9. Was Rome wise in adopting her new 
policy of expansion beyond the limits of Italy? 10. Give some examples in modern 
times of war indemnities paid by defeated nations. 1 1 . Why did the Romans call 
the Second Punic War the "War of Hannibal"? 12. What is a "Fabian policy"? 
Do you know why Washington was called the "American Fabius"? 13. What 
reasons can you give for Hannibal's early successes and final failure? 14. Show the 
signal importance to Rome of her control of the sea during the Second Punic War. 
15. Comment on this statement: "As the rise of Rome was central in history, the 
Second Punic War was central in the rise of Rome." 16. What provinces had been 
formed by 133 B.C. (map facing page 184)? 17. What parts of the world belonged 
to Rome in 133 B.C. but were not yet provinces? 18. Might Rome have extended 



192 The Great Age of the Roman RepubHc 

her federal policy to her territories outside of Italy? Was a provincial system really 
necessary? 19. Compare a Persian satrapy with a Roman province. 20. Would 
import duties on foreign grain have revived ItaUan agriculture? 21. Why did the 
cattle breeder in Italy have no reason to fear foreign competition? 22. Compare 
the Athenian practice of state pay with the Roman "bread and the games of the 
circus." 23. Had the Italians triumphed in the Social War, is it likely they would 
have established a better government than that of Rome? 24. Was Marius or 
was Sulla more to blame for the Civil War? 25. Explain the real meaning of Sulla's 
"perpetual dictatorship." 26. Why was the rule of the Senate, unsatisfactory 
though it was, to be preferred to that of the Roman populace? 27. Why is the First 
Triumvirate described as a "ring"? Did it have an official character? 28. Why 
does the First Triumvirate mark a distinct step toward the establishment of the 
empire? 29. Why can wars with barbarous and savage peoples be justified as 
"the most ultimately righteous of all wars"? 30. Can you suggest why Caesar's 
conquest of Gaul had even greater importance than Pompey's conquests in the East? 
31. Was Caesar justified in leading his army against Rome? 32. Had Pompey 
triimiphed over Caesar, is it probable that the republic would have been restored? 
SS- What contrasts can you draw between Caesar and Alexander? 34. Justify 
the aphorism, "In the midst of arms the laws are silent," by the statements in this 
chapter. 35. How do you account for the failure of the republican institutions of 
Rome? 



CHAPTER DC 

THE EARLY EMPIRE: THE WORLD UNDER ROMAN RULE, 
31 B.C.-180 A.D.1 

66. Augustus, 31 B.C.-14 A.D. 

The period of two hundred and eleven years, between the ac- 
cession of Augustus and the death of Marcus AureHus, is known 

as the Early Em- ^, ^ , 

, 1, The Early 

pire. As we shall Empire, 31 

now learn, it B.c.-iso 

/ A.D. 

was a time of set- 
tled government and of inter- 
nal tranquillity. Except for a brief 
period of anarchy at the close of the 
reign of Nero, it was also a time of 
regular succession to the throne. 
Nearly all the emperors were vigorous 
and capable rulers. The peace and 
prosperity which they gave to the Ro- 
man world amply justify — if justifi- 
cation be needed — the change from 
republic to empire. 

Few persons have set their stamp 
more indelibly on the pages of history 
than Octavian, whom we The new 

may now call by his more ^^^^ Augustus 

familiar name Augustus (''Majestic ")• Vatican Museum, Rome 
Augustus was no military genius to 

dazzle the world with his achievements. He was a cool and 
passionless statesman who took advantage of a memorable 

1 Webster, Readings in Ancient History, chapter xix, "The Makers of Imperial 
Rome: Character Sketches by Suetonius"; chapter xx, "Nero, a Roman Emperor." 

193 




194 The World Under Roman Rule 

opportunity to remake the Roman state, and who succeeded in 
the attempt. Absolute power, which destroys weaker men, 
with Augustus brought out the nobler elements of character. 
From the successful leader of a party he became the wise and 
impartial ruler of an empire. 

Augustus had almost unlimited power. His position was 
that of a king, as supreme as Juhus Caesar had ever been. 
The new Better, however, than Julius Caesar, Augustus 

government realized that an undisguised autocracy would only 
aUenate public opinion and invite fresh plots and rebelhons. 
Augustus intended to be the real master, but he would also be 
careful to conceal his authority under republican forms. The 
emperor w^as neither king, dictator, nor triumvir. He called 
himself a republican magistrate — Princeps^ — the ''First 
Citizen" of the state. 

Augustus gave up the externals, only to keep the essentials, 
of royalty. He held the proconsular authority, which extended 
Powers en- ^^^^ ^^^ frontier provinces and their legions. He 
joyed by held the tribunician authority, which made his 

ugus s person sacred. As perpetual tribune he could pre- 
side over the popular assembhes, manage the Senate and change 
its membership at pleasure, and veto the acts of almost any 
magistrate. In the provinces and at home in the capital city 
the emperor was supreme. 

Augustus ruled a vast realm. In it all the dreams of world 
dominion which Alexander had cherished were more than real- 
The empire ^^^*^- '^^^ empire included nearly the entire circle 
under Augus- of the Mediterranean lands. On the west and 
*"^ south it found natural barriers in the Atlantic 

Ocean and the African desert. On the east the Euphrates 
River had formed, since the defeat of Crassus,^ the dividing 
Hne between Rome and Parthia. The northern frontier, be- 
yond which lay the Germanic barbarians, required, however, 
additional conquests for its protection. 

The Danube River made an admirable boundary for much of 
the Roman territory between the Black Sea and the Rhine. 

^ Hence our word "prince." * See page 184. 



Augustus 195 

Augustus annexed the district south of the lower course of this 
river and formed it into the province of Moesia The Danube 
(modern Serbia and Bulgaria). The Hne of the boundary 
upper Danube was later secured by the creation of three new 
provinces on the northern slopes of the Alps.^ Henceforth the 
Balkan peninsula and Italy on the northeast, where the Alpine 
passes are low and comparatively easy, were shielded from 
attack. 

After the conquests of Julius Caesar in Gaul the Rhine had 
become the frontier between that country and Germany. 
Augustus repeatedly sent the legions into western The Rhine 
Germany on punitive expeditions to strike terror boundary 
into its warlike tribes and to inspire respect for Roman power. 
It is doubtful, however, whether he ever intended to conquer 
Germany and to convert it into another province. His failure 
to do so meant that the Germans were not to be Romanized as 
were their neighbors, the Celts of Gaul. The Rhine continued 
to be the dividing-line between Roman civihzation and Ger- 
manic barbarism. 

The clash of arms on the distant frontiers scarcely disturbed 
the serenity of the Roman world. Within the boundaries of the 
empire the Augustan Age was an age of peace The Augus- 
and prosperity. The emperor, with unwearied de- *^^ ^s® 
votion, turned to the task of ruling wisely and well his vast 
dominions. He followed the example of Julius Caesar in his 
insistence on just government of the provincials.^ In Italy 
he put down brigandage, repaired the public highways, and 
planted many colonies in unsettled districts. In Rome he es- 
tablished a regular police service, organized the supply of grain 
and water, and continued, on a larger scale than ever, the 
public games. So many were his buildings in the capital city 
that he could boast he had "found Rome of brick and left it 
of marble." ' Augustus was also very successful as a religious 
reformer. He restored numerous temples that had fallen into 

1 The provinces of Pannonia, Noricum, and Raetia. See the map facing page 
194. 2 See page 187. 

^ For a description of ancient Rome see pages 292-296. 



196 



The World under Roman Rule 




decay, revived the ancient sacrifices, and celebrated with pomp 
and majesty the festivals that had been neglected. These 
reforms gave new vigor to the Roman state religion. 

Even during the hfetime of Augustus worship had been offered 
to him by the provincials. After his death the Senate gave him 
Deification of divine honors and enrolled his name among the 
Augustus gods. Temples rose in every province to the dei- 
fied Augustus, and altars smoked with sacrifices to him. Em- 
peror worship spread rapidly over the ancient world and helped 



The Successors of Augustus 197 

to unite all classes in allegiance to the new government. It pro- 
vided a universal religion for a universal empire. Yet just at 
the time when this new cult was taking root, and in the midst 
of the happy reign of Augustus, there was born in Bethlehem of 
Judea the Christ whose religion was to overcome the worship 
of the emperors and with it all other faiths of pagan antiquity.^ 

67. The Successors of Augustus, 14-96 A.D. 

For more than half a century following the death of Augustus 
his place was filled by emperors who, either by descent or adop- 
tion, claimed kinship with himself and the mighty 
Julius. They are known as the Julian and Clau- ciaudian 
dian Caesars.^ Though none of these four princes £f !^^' ^*~ 
had the poHtical abihty of Augustus, two of 
them (Tiberius and Claudius) were excellent rulers, who ably 
maintained the standards set by that great emperor. The other 
two (Cahgula and Nero) were vicious tyrants, the recital of whose 
follies and crimes occupies much space in the works of ancient 
historians. Their doings and misdoings fortunately exerted lit- 
tle influence outside the circle of the imperial court and the capi- 
tal city. Rome itself might be disturbed by conspiracy and 
bloodshed, but Italy and the provinces kept their prosperity. 

The reign of Claudius was marked by the beginning of the 
extension of the empire over Britain. For nearly a hundred 
years after Caesar's expeditions no further attempt conquest of 
had been made to annex that island. But its Britain be- 
nearness to Gaul, already thoroughly Romanized, ^"^' ' ' 
brought the country within the sphere of Roman influence. 
The thorough conquest of Britain proved to be no easy task. 
It was not until the close of the first century that the island, as 
far north as the Scottish Highlands, was brought under Roman 
sway. The province of Britannia remained a part of the empire 
for more than three hundred years. 

^ Jesus was bom probably in 4 B.C., the last year of the reign of Herod, whom the 
triumvirs, Antony and Octavian, had placed on the throne of Judea in 37 B.C. 

^ A Roman emperor was generally called "Caesar" by the provincials. See, 
for example, Matthew, xxii, 17-21, or Acts, xxv, 10-12. This title survives in the 
German Kaiser and perhaps in the Russian Tsar, or Czar. 



198 



The World under Roman Rule 



During Nero's reign half of Rome was laid in ashes by a great 
fire, which raged for a week. But a new Rome speedily 
arose. It was a much finer city than the old, with 
wide, straight streets instead of narrow alleys, 
and with houses of good stone in place of wooden 
hovels. Except for the loss of the temples and public buildings, 
the fire was a blessing in disguise. 



Bxirning of 
Rome, 64 
A.D. 




Pl.'^n of Jerusalem and its Environs 

After the death of Nero the dynasty that traced its descent 
from Julius and Augustus became extinct. There was no one 
Flavian ^^^ ^^^^^ legally claim the vacant throne. The 

Senate, which in theory had the appointment of a 
successor, was too weak to exercise its powers. The 
imperial guard and the legions on the frontiers placed their own 
candidates in the field. The Roman world fell into anarchy, 
and Italy became once more the seat of civil war. The throne 



Caesars, 
69-96 A.D 



The Successors of Augustus 199 

was finally seized by the able general, Flavins Vespasianus, 
supported by the armies of the East. He and his two sons, 
Titus and Domitian, are called the Flavian Caesars. 








Pompeii 



During the reign of Vespasian a revolt of the Jews was 
crushed, and Jerusalem was captured by Titus, Vespasian's 
son. It is said, doubtless with exaggeration, that capture of 
one million Jews perished in the siege, the most Jerusalem, 
awful that history records. The Holy City, to- 
gether with the Temple, was destroyed, and a Roman camp was 
pitched upon the spot. We may still see in Rome the splendid 
arch that commemorates this tragic event.^ 

The reign of Titus is chiefly memorable for the destruction of 
Pompeii and Herculaneum, two cities on the bay of Naples. 
After long inactivity the volcano of Vesuvius sud- Eruption of 
denly belched forth torrents of liquid lava and Vesuvius, 
mud, followed by a rain of ashes. Pompeii was 
covered to a depth of about fifteen feet by the falling cinders. 
Herculaneum was overwhelmed in a sea of sulphurous mud 
and lava to a depth of eighty feet in many places. The cities 

1 In 131 A.D., during the reign of the emperor Hadrian, the Jews once more 
broke out in revolt. Jerusalem, which had risen from its ruins, was again destroyed 
by the Romans, and the plow was passed over the foundations of the Temple. 
From Roman times to the present the Jews have been a people without a country. 



200 



The World under Roman Rule 



were completely entombed, and in time even their location was 
forgotten. Modern excavations have disclosed a large part of 
Pompeii, with its streets, shops, baths, temples, and theaters. 
The visitor there gains a vivid impression of Roman hfe during 
the first century of our era.^ 

68. The "Good Emperors," 96-180 A.D. 

The five rulers — Nerva, Trajan, Hadrian, Antoninus Pius, and 
Marcus Aurehus — whose reigns cover the greater part of the 

jj^g second century, are 

Antonine sometimes called 

Caesars ^^^ Antonine Cx- 

sars, because two of them bore 
the name Antoninus. They 
are better known as the *' Good 
Emperors," a title which well 
describes them. Under their 
just and beneficent government 
the empire reached its greatest 
prosperity. 

The emperor Trajan rivaled 
Julius Caesar in mihtary abihty 
Trajan the and enlarged the 
conqueror Roman world to 
the widest limits it was ever to 
attain. His first conquests were in Europe and resulted in 
the annexation of Dacia, an extensive territory north of the 
Danube. Thousands of colonists settled in Dacia and spread 
everywhere the language and arts of Rome. Its modern name 
(Rumania) bears witness to Rome's abiding influence there. 
Trajan's campaigns in Asia had less importance, though in ap- 
pearance they were more splendid. He drove the Parthians 
from Armenia and conquered the Tigris-Euphrates valley. To 
hold in subjection such distant regions only increased the diffi- 
culty of guarding the frontiers. Trajan's successor, Hadrian, at 
once abandoned them. 

» See Bulwer-Lytton's novel, The Last Days of Pompeii. 




Nerva 

Vatican Museum, Rome 

A remarkably fine example of Roman 
portrait statuary. 



i 



The "Good Emperors" 



20I 



Hadrian distinguished himself as an administrator. He may- 
be compared with Augustus in his love of peace and in his care 
for the interests of the Hadrian the 
provincials. Hadrian administrator 
made two long journeys throughout 
the Roman world. On the frontiers 
he built fortresses and walls; in 
the provinces he raised baths, 
aqueducts, theaters, and temples. 
Scarcely a city throughout the em- 
pire lacked some monument to his 
generosity. Hadrian left behind 
him the memory of a prince whose 
life was devoted to the public 
welfare — the first servant of the 
state. 

The last of the ''Good Em- 
perors," Marcus Aurelius, was a 
thinker and a student, 
but he enjoyed little 
opportunity for medi- 
tation. His reign was 
filled with an almost uninterrupted 
series of campaigns against the Par- 
thians on the Euphrates and the 
Germans on the Danube and the 
Rhine. These wars revealed 
the weakness of the frontiers and 
rapidly growing strength of the bar- 
barians. After the death of Mar- 
cus Aurelius the empire entered on 
its downward course. But before 
passing to this period of our study, we may take a survey of 
the world under Roman rule, during the two centuries between 
Augustus and Marcus Aurehus. 



Marcus Au- 
relius, the 
philosopher 
on the throne 




Column of Trajan 

A bronze statue of Trajan, for- 
merly occupying the top of the monu- 
ment, has been replaced by a figure of 
St. Peter. The column is decorated 
with a continuous spiral relief repre- 
senting scenes from the Dacian War. 
About twenty-five hundred separate 
designs are included in this remark- 
able collection. 



202 



The World under Roman Rule 



69. The Provinces of the Roman Empire 

The Roman Empire, at its widest extent in the second cen- 
tury, included forty-three provinces. They were protected 
The standing against Germans, Parthians, and other foes by 
army twenty-five legions, numbering, with the auxiliary 

forces, about three hundred thousand men. This standing army 




The Pantheon 

The original building was the work of Agrippa, a minister of Augustus. The 
temple was reconstructed by Hadrian, who left the Greek portico unchanged but 
added the rotunda and the dome. This great dome, the largest in the world, is 
made of solid concrete. During the Middle Ages the Pantheon was converted 
into a church. It is now the burial place of the kings of Italy. 



was one of Rome's most important agencies for the spread of 
her civilization over barbarian lands. Its membership was 
drawn largely from the border provinces, often from the very 
countries where the soldiers' camps were fixed. Though the 
army became less and less Roman in blood, it always kept in 
character and spirit the best traditions of Rome. The long 
intervals of peace were not passed by the soldiers in idleness. 
They built the great highways that penetrated every region of 
the empire, spanned the streams with bridges, raised dikes and 
aqueducts, and taught the border races the arts of civilization. 
It was due, finally, to the labors of the legionaries, that the most 



The Provinces of the Roman Empire 203 

exposed parts of the frontiers were provided with an extensive 
system of walls and ramparts. 

The Roman system of roads received its great extension dur- 
ing the imperial age. The principal trunk lines began at the 
gates of Rome and radiated thence to every prov- The Roman 
ince. Along these highways sped the couriers of ^°^^^ 
the Caesars, carrying dispatches and making, by means of relays 



<<i' 



i^m-M 



iiiiii 




The Tomb of Hadrian 



The building was formerly topped by another of smaller size which bore a statue of 
the emperor. In medieval times this stately tomb was converted into a castle. It is now used 
as a museum. The bridge across the Tiber was built by Hadrian. 



of horses, as much as one hundred and fifty miles a day. The 
roads resounded to the tramp of the legionaries passing to their 
stations on the distant frontier. Travelers by foot, horseback, 
or litter journeyed on them from land to land, employing maps 
which described routes and distances. Traders used them for 
the transport of merchandise. Roman roads, in short, were 
the railways of antiquity. ^ 

In her roads and fortifications, in the living rampart of her 
legions, Rome long found security. Except for the The pax 
districts conquered by Trajan but abandoned by Roniana 
Hadrian,^ the empire during this period did not lose a province. 

1 See the map on page 205 for the system of Roman roads in Britain. 

2 See page 200. 



204 



The World under Roman Rule 



Extension 
of Roman 
citizenship 



For more than two hundred years, throughout an area as large 
as the United States, the civilized world rested under what an 
ancient writer calls ''the immense majesty of the Roman 
peace." ^ 

The grant of Roman citizenship to all Italians after the Social 

War 2 only increased 
for a time 
the con- 
trast be- 
tween Italy and the 
provinces. But even 
before the fall of the 
republic Caesar's legis- 
lation had begun the 
work of uniting the 
Roman and the pro- 
vincial.^ More and 
more the emperors fol- 
lowed in his footsteps. 
The extension of Ro- 
man citizenship was a 
gradual process cover- 
ing two centuries. It 
was left for the em- 
peror Caracalla, early 
in the third century, 
to take the final step. 
In 212 A.D. he issued an edict which bestowed citizen- 
ship on all freeborn inhabitants of the empire. This famous 
edict completed the work, begun so many centuries before, of 
Romanizing the ancient world. 

The grant of citizenship, though it increased the burden 
of taxation, brought no slight advantage to 
those who possessed it. A Roman citizen could 
not be maltreated with impunity or punished with- 
out a legal trial before Roman courts. If accused in a capital 

1 Pliny, Natural History, xxvii, i. ^ See page 179. ^ gee page 187. 




Marcus Aurelius in His Triumphal Car 

Palace of the Conservatori, Rome 
A panel from an arch erected by the emperor. 



Privileges of 

Roman 

citizens 



The Provinces of the Roman Empire 205 




2o6 



The World under Roman Rule 



case, he could always protect himself against an unjust decision 
by an "appeal to Caesar"; that is, to the emperor at Rome. 
St. Paul did this on one occasion when on trial for his life.^ 







>i:^ 




. Wall of Hadrian in Britain 

The wall extended between the Tyne and the Solway, a distance of seventy miles. It 
was built of concrete, faced with square blocks. The height is nearly twenty feet; the thick- 
ness, about eight feet. Along the wall were numerous towers and gates, and a little to the 
north of it stretched an earthen rampart protected by a deep ditch. A broad road, lined with 
seventeen miUtary camps, ran between the two fortifications. 

Wherever he lived, a Roman citizen enjoyed, both for his person 
and his property, the protection of Roman law. 



70. The Roman Law and the Latin Language 

The Romans were the most legal-minded people of antiquity. 
It was their, mission to give laws to the world. Almost at the 
Improve- beginning of the republic they framed the code of 

ment of the Twelve Tables,^ which long remained the basis 

Oman aw ^£ their jurisprudence. This code, however, was 
so harsh, technical, and brief that it could not meet the needs 
of a progressive state. The Romans gradually improved their 
legal system, especially after they began to rule over conquered 
nations. The disputes which arose between citizens and sub- 
jects were decided by the praetors or provincial governors in 
accordance with what seemed to them to be principles of 
justice and equity. These principles gradually found a place in 



See Acts, xxv, 9-12. 



2 See page 151. 



The Roman Law and the Latin Language 207 

Roman law, together with many rules and observances of for- 
eign peoples. Roman law in this way tended to take over and 
absorb all that was best in ancient jurisprudence. 

Thus, as the extension of the citizenship carried the principles 
and practice of Roman law to every quarter of the empire, the 
spirit of that law underwent an entire change, character of 
It became exact, impartial, hberal, humane: it Roman law 
limited the use of torture to force confession from persons 
accused of crime. It protected the child against a father's 
tyranny. It provided that a master who killed a slave should 
be punished as a murderer, and even taught that all men are 
originally free by the law of nature and therefore that slavery is 
contrary to natural right. Justice it defined as "the steady 
and abiding purpose to give every man that which is his own." ^ 
Roman law, which began as the rude code of a primitive people, 
ended as the most refined and admirable system of jurisprudence 
ever framed by man. This law, as we shall see later, has passed 
from ancient Rome to modern Europe.^ 

The conquest by Latin of the languages of the world is almost 
as interesting and important a story as the conquest by Rome 
of the nations of the world. At the beginning of Latin in 
Roman history Latin was the speech of only the ^**^y 
people of Latium. Beyond the limits of Latium Latin came 
into contact with the many different languages spoken in early 
Italy. Some of them, such as Greek and Etruscan, soon dis- 
appeared from Italy after Roman expansion, but those used by 
native Italian peoples showed more power of resistance. It was 
not until the last century B.C. that Latin was thoroughly estab- 
lished in the central and southern parts of the peninsula. After 
the Social War the Italian peoples became citizens of Rome, 
and with Roman citizenship went the use of the Latin tongue. 

The Romans carried their language to the barbarian peoples 
of the West, as they had carried it to Italy. Their ^atin in the 
missionaries were colonists, merchants, soldiers, western 
and public officials. The Latin spoken by them p^^^^^^^ 
was eagerly taken up by the rude, unlettered natives, who tried 

1 Institutes, bk, i, tit. i. « See page 331. 



2o8 The World under Roman Rule 

to make themselves as Roman as possible in dress, customs, 
and speech. This provincial Latin was not simply the language 
of the upper classes; the common people themselves used it 
freely, as we know from thousands of inscriptions found in 
western and central Europe. In the countries which now make 
up Spain, France, Switzerland, southern Austria, England, and 
North Africa, the old national tongues were abandoned for the 
Latin of Rome. 

The decline of the Roman Empire did not bring about the 
downfall of the Latin language in the West. It became the 
Romance basis of the so-called Romance languages — 

languages French, Itahan, Spanish, Portuguese, and Ru- 
manian — which arose in the Middle Ages out of the spoken 
Latin of the common people. Even our English language, 
which comes to us from the speech of the Germanic invaders 
of Britain, contains so many words of Latin origin that we can 
scarcely utter a sentence without using some of them. The 
rule of Rome has passed away; the language of Rome still 
remains to enrich the intellectual life of mankind. 

71. The Municipalities of the Roman Empire 

The world under Roman rule was a world of cities. Some 
had earlier been native settlements, such as those in Gaul 
Prevalence of before the Roman conquest. Others were the 
city life splendid Hellenistic cities in the East.^ Many 

more were of Roman origin, arising from the colonies and 
fortified camps in which citizens and soldiers had settled.^ 
Where Rome did not find cities, she created them. 

Not only were the cities numerous, but many of them, even 
when judged by modern standards, reached great size. Rome 
Some impor- w'as the largest, her population being estimated at 
tant cities from One to two millions. Alexandria came next 
with more than half a million people. Syracuse was the third 
metropolis of the empire. Italy contained such important towns 

1 See page 127. 

2 Several English cities, such as Lancaster, Leicester, Manchester, and Chester, 
betray in their names their origin in the Roman castra, or camp. 



The Municipalities of the Roman Empire 209 

as Verona, Milan, and Ravenna. In Gaul were Marseilles, 
Nimes, Bordeaux, Lyons — all cities with a continuous existence 
to the present day. In Britain York and London were seats 
of commerce, Chester and Lincoln were military colonies, and 
Bath was celebrated then, as now, for its medicinal waters. 
Carthage and Corinth had risen in new splendor from their ashes. 
Athens was still the home of Greek art and Greek culture. 




Roman Baths, at Bath, England 

Bath, the ancient Aquae Sulis, was famous in Roman times for its hot springs. Here 
are very interesting remains, including a large pool, eighty-three by forty feet in size, and 
lined at the bottom with the Roman lead, besides smaller bathing chambers and portions of 
the ancient pipes and conduits. The building and statues are modern restorations. 

Asia included such ancient and important centers as Pergamum, 
Smyrna, Ephesus, Rhodes, and Antioch. The student who 
reads in his New Testament the Acts of the Apostles will get a 
vivid impression of some of these great capitals. 

Every municipality was a Rome in miniature. It had its 
forum and senate-house, its temples, theaters, and baths, its 
circus for racing, and its amphitheater for gladia- Appearance 
torial combats. Most of the municipalities enjoyed °^ *^® ^^^^^^ 
an abundant supply of water, and some had good sewer systems. 



2IO The World under Roman Rule 

The larger towns had well-paved, though narrow, streets. 
Pompeii, a small place of scarcely thirty thousand inhabitants, 
still exists to give us an idea of the appearance of one of these 
ancient cities. And what we find at Pompeii was repeated on a 
more splendid scale in hundreds of places from the Danube to 
the Nile, from Britain to Arabia. 

The municipalities of Roman origin copied the government 
of Rome itself.^ Each city had a council, or senate, and a popu- 
City govern- lar assembly which chose the magistrates. These 
ment officials were generally rich men; they received no 

salary, and in fact had to pay a large sum on entering office. 
Local politics excited the keenest interest. Many of the inscrip- 
tions found on the walls of Pompeii are election placards recom- 
mending particular candidates for office. Women sometimes took 
part in political contests. Distributions of grain, oil, and money 
were made to needy citizens, in imitation of the bad Roman prac- 
tice. There were public banquets, imposing festivals, wild-beast 
hunts, and bloody contests of gladiators, like those at Rome. 

The busy, throbbing life in these countless centers of the 
Roman world has long since been stilled. The cities themselves, 
Survival of the ^^ many instances, have utterly disappeared. Yet 
Roman munic- the forms of municipal government, together with 
ipa sys em ^-^^ Roman idea of a free, self-governing city, never 
wholly died out. Some of the most important cities which flour- 
ished in southern and western Europe during the later Middle 
Ages preserved clear traces of their ancient Roman origin. 

72. Economic and Social Conditions in the First and 
Second Centuries 

The first two centuries of our era formed the golden age of 
Roman commerce. The emperors fostered it in many ways. 
Promotion of Augustus and his successors kept the Mediterra- 
commerce nean free from pirates, built lighthouses and im- 
proved harbors, policed the highways, and made travel by land 
both speedy and safe. An imperial currency ^ replaced the vari- 

* See page 149. 

* For illustrations of Roman coins see the plate facing page 134. 



Economic and Social Conditions 



211 



ous national coinages with their Hmited circulation. The vexa- 
tious import and export duties, levied by different countries and 
cities on foreign produce, were swept away. Free trade flour- 
ished between the cities and provinces of the Roman world. 

Roman commerce followed, in general, the routes which 
Phoenicians had dis- 
covered Principal 
c e n t U - t*"*^® routes 
ries before. After 
the annexation of 
Gaul the rivers of 
that country became 
channels of trade 
between western 
Europe and Italy. 
The conquest of the 
districts north and 
south of the Danube 
opened up an im- 
portant route be- 
tween central Europe 
and the Mediterra- 
nean. Imports from 
the far eastern coun- 
tries came by cara- 
van through Asia to 
ports on the Black 
Sea. The water routes led by way of the Persian Gulf to the 
great Syrian cities of Antioch and Palmyra and, by way of the 
Red Sea, to Alexandria on the Nile. From these thriving com- 
mercial centers products were shipped to every region of the 
empire.^ 

The importation and disposal of foreign goods at Rome fur- 
nished employment for many thousands of traders. Local trading 
There were great wholesale merchants whose ware- ** ^°™® 
houses stored grain and all kinds of merchandise. There were 

» See the map on page 48. 




A Roman Freight Ship 

The ship lies beside the wharf at Ostia. In the after- 
part of the vessel is a cabin with two windows. Notice the 
figure of Victory on the top of the single mast and the deco- 
ration of the mainsail with the wolf and twins. The ship 
is steered by a pair of huge paddles. 



212 The World under Roman Rule 

also many retail shopkeepers. They might be sometimes the 
slaves or freedmen of a wealthy noble who preferred to keep 
in the background. Sometimes they were men of free birth. 
The feeling that petty trade was unworthy of a citizen, though 
strong in republican days, tended to disappear under the empire. 

The slaves at Rome, like those at Athens,^ carried on many 
industrial tasks. We must not imagine, however, that all the 
Free laborers manual labor of the city was performed by bond- 
atRome rnen. The number of slaves even tended to de- 

cline, when there were no more border wars to yield captives 
for the slave markets. The growing custom of emancipation 
worked in the same direction. We find in this period a large 
body of free laborers, not only in the capital city, but in all 
parts of the empire. 

The workmen engaged in a particular calling frequently 

formed clubs, or guilds.^ There were guilds of weavers, shoe- 

„, ., , makers, jewelers, painters, musicians, and even of 

The guilds "^ ^ 

gladiators. These associations were not organized 

for the purpose of securing higher wages and shorter hours by 
strikes or threat of strikes. They seem to have existed chiefly 
for social and religious purposes. Each guild had its clubhouse 
for ofiicial meetings and banquets. Each guild had its special 
deity, such as Vesta, the fire goddess, for bakers, and Bacchus, 
the wine god, for innkeepers. Every year the guildsmen held a 
festival, in honor of their patron, and marched through the 
streets with banners and the emblems of their trade. Nearly 
all the guilds had as one main object the provision of a proper 
funeral and tomb for deceased members. The humble laborer 
found some consolation in the thought that he belonged to a 
club of friends and fellow workers, who after death would give 
him decent burial and keep his memory green. 

Free workingmen throughout the Roman world appear to 
Life of the ^SLve led reasonably happy lives. . They were not 
working driven or enslaved by their employers or forced to 

c asses labor for long hours in grimy, unwholesome fac- 

tories. Slums existed, but no sweatshops. If wages were low, 

1 See page 107. * Latin collegia, whence our "college." 



Economic and Social Conditions 



213 



so also was the cost of living. Wine, oil, and wheat flour were 
cheap. The mild climate made heavy clothing unnecessary 
and permitted an outdoor life. The public baths — great club- 
houses — stood open to every one who could pay a trifling 
fee.^ Numerous hohdays, celebrated with games and shows, 
brightened existence. On the whole we may conclude that 




A Roman Villa 

Wall painting, Pompeii 

working people at Rome and in the provinces enjoyed greater 

comfort during this period than had ever been their lot in 

previous ages. 

It was an age of millionaires. There had been rich men, such 

as Crassus,^ during the last century of the republic; their 

numbers increased and their fortunes rose during _ 

, 1 ^ r I . ^, , ., , Great fortunes 

the hrst century of the empire. The phnosopher 

Seneca, a tutor of Nero, is said to have made twelve million 
dollars within four years by the emperor's favor. Narcissus, 
the secretary of Claudius, made sixteen million dollars — the 
largest Roman fortune on record. This sum must be multi- 
plied four or five times to find its modern equivalent, since in 
antiquity interest rates were higher and the purchasing power 
of money was greater than to-day. Such private fortunes are 
surpassed only by those of the present age. 

The heaping-up of riches in the hands of a few brought its 

1 See pages 263 and 285. 2 See page 183. 



214 The World under Roman Rule 

natural consequence in luxury and extravagance. The palaces 
Luxury and of the wealthy, with their gardens, baths, picture 
extravagance galleries, and other features, were costly to build 
and costly to keep up. The money not lavished by a noble on 
his town house could be easily sunk on his villas in the country. 
All Italy, from the bay of Naples to the foot of the Alps, was 
dotted with elegant residences, having flower gardens, game 
preserves, fishponds, and artificial lakes. Much senseless waste 
occurred at banquets and entertainments. Vast sums were 
spent on vessels of gold and silver, jewelry, clothing, and house 
furnishings. Even funerals and tombs required heavy outlays. 
A capitalist of imperial Rome could get rid of a fortune in sel- 
fish indulgences almost as readily as any modern milHonaire 
not blessed with a refined taste or with pubhc spirit. 

Some of the customs of the time appear especially shocking. 
The brutal gladiatorial games ^ were a passion with every one, 
Some social from the emperor to his lowest subject. Infanti- 
®^s f^[^Q -^as a, general practice. Marriage grew to be 

a mere civil contract, easily made and easily broken. Common 
as divorce had become, the married state was regarded as un- 
desirable. Augustus vainly made laws to encourage matri- 
mony and discourage celibacy. Suicide, especially among the 
upper classes, was astonishingly frequent. No one questioned 
another's right to leave this life at pleasure. The decline of 
the earlier paganism left many men without a deep religious 
faith to combat the growing doubt and worldliness of the age. 

Yet this dark picture needs correction at many points. It 
may be questioned whether the vice, luxury, and wickedness 
Brighter as- ^^ ancient Rome, Antioch, or Alexandria much ex- 
pects of Ro- ceeded what our great modern capitals can show. 

man society t^ • .i • • j i i,i 

Durmg this period, moreover, many remarkable 

improvements took place in social life and manners. There was 

an increasing kindliness and charity. The weak and the infirm 

were better treated. The education of the poor was encouraged 

by the founding of free schools. Wealthy citizens of the various 

towns lavished their fortunes on such public works as baths, 

1 See page 267. 



The Graeco-Roman World 



215 



aqueducts, and temples, for the benefit of all classes. Even the 
slaves were much better treated. Imperial laws aimed to 
check the abuses of cruelty, overwork, and neglect, and 
philosophers recommended to masters the exercise of gentle- 
ness and mercy toward slaves. In fact, the first and second 
centuries of our era were marked by a great growth of the 
humanitarian spirit. 

73. The Graeco-Roman World 

Just as the conquests of Alexander, by uniting the Orient to 
Greece, produced a Graeco-Oriental civilization, so The new cos- 
now the expansion of Rome over the Mediterranean mopolitanism 
formed another world-wide culture, in which both Greek and 




A Roman Temple 

The best preserved of Roman temples. Located at Nimes in southern France, where it 
is known as La Maison Carree ("the square house"). The structure is now used as a museum 
of antiquities. 

Roman elements met and mingled. A new sense of cosmopoli- 
tanism arose in place of the old civic or national patriotism. 

This cosmopolitan feeling was the outcome of those unifying 
and civiHzing forces which the imperial system set unifying and 
at work. The extension of Roman citizenship civilizing 
broke down the old distinction between the citi- ^^^^^^ 
zens and the subjects of Rome. The development of Roman 



2l6 



The World under Roman Rule 



law carried its principles of justice and equity to the remotest 
regions. The spread of the Latin language provided the west- 
ern half of the empire with a speech as universal there as Greek 
was in the East. Trade and travel united the provinces with 
one another and with. Rome. The worship of the Caesars 
dimmed the luster of all local worships and kept constantly 




The Amphitheater at Arles 

The amphitheater at Aries in southern France was used during the Mid- 
dle Ages as a fortress, then as a prison, and finally became the resort of crimi- 
nals and paupers. The illustration shows it before the removal of the 
buildings, about 1830 a.d. Bullfights still continue in the arena, where, in 
Roman times, animal-baitings and gladiatorial games took place. 

before men's minds the idea of Rome and of her mighty emper- 
ors. Last, but not least important, was the fusion of alien 
peoples through intermarriage wdth Roman soldiers and colo- 
nists. ''How many settlements," exclaims the philosopher 
Seneca, "have been planted in every province ! Wherever the 
Roman conquers, there he dwells." ^ 

The best evidence of Rome's imperial rule is found in the 
monuments she raised in every quarter of the Monuments 
ancient world. Some of the grandest ruins of an- of Roman 
tiquity are not in the capital city itself, or even 
in Italy, but in Spain, France, England, Greece, Switzerland, 

1 Seneca, Minor Dialogues, xi, 7. 



The Graeco-Roman World 



217 



Asia Minor, Syria, and North Africa. Among these are Ha- 
drian's Wall in Britain, the splendid aqueduct known as the 
Pont du Gard near Nimes in southern France, the beautiful 
temple called La Maison Carree in the same city, the Olym- 
pieum at Athens, and the temple of the Sun at Baalbec in Syria. 
Thus the lonely hilltops, the desolate desert sands, the moun- 
tain fastnesses of three continents bear witness even now to 
the widespreading sway of Rome. 







A Megalith at Baalbec 

A block of stone, 68 feet long, 10 feet high, and weighing about 1500 tons. It is still 
attached to its bed in the quarry, not far from the ruins of Baalbec in Syria. The temples of 
Baalbec, seen in the distance, were built by the Romans in the third century a.d. The majestic 
temple of the Sun contains three megaHths almost as huge as the one represented in the illus- 
tration. They are the largest blocks known to have been used in any structure. For a long 
time they were supposed to be relics of giant builders. 

The civihzed w^orld took on the stamp and impress of Rome. 
The East, indeed, remained Greek in language and feeling, but 
even there Roman law and government prevailed, Romanization 
Roman roads traced their unerring course, and of East and 
Roman architects erected majestic monuments. ^^* 
The West became completely Roman. North Africa, Spain, 
Gaul, distant Dacia, and Britain were the seats of populous 
cities, where the Latin language was spoken and Roman cus- 
toms were followed. From them came the emperors. They 
furnished some of the most eminent men of letters. Their 



2i8 The World under Roman Rule 

schools of grammar and rhetoric attracted students from Rome 

itself. Thus unconsciously, but none the less surely, local 

habits and manners, national religions and tongues, provincial 

institutions and ways of thinking disappeared from the ancient 

world. 

Studies 

I. On an outline map indicate the additions to Roman territory: during the reign 
of Augustus, 31 B.C.-14 A.D.; during the period 14-180 a.d. 2. On an outline 
map indicate ten important cities of the Roman Empire. 3. Connect the proper 
events with the following dates: 79 a.d.; 180 a.d.; and 14 a.d. 4. Whom do you 
consider the greater man, Julius Caesar or Augustus? Give reasons for your 
answer. 5. Compare the Augustan Age at Rome with the Age of Pericles at Athens. 
6. What is the Monumentum Ancyranum and its historic importance (illustration, 
page 196)? 7. How did the worship of the Caesars connect itself with ancestor 
worship? 8. In the reign of what Roman emperor was Jesus born? In whose 
reign was he crucified? 9. How did the "year of anarchy" after Nero's death 
exhibit a weakness in the imperial system? 10. How many provinces existed 
under Trajan? 11. What modem countries are included within the limits of 
the Roman Empire in the age of Trajan? 12. Compare the extent of the 
Roman Empire under Trajan with (o) the empire of Alexander; and {b) the 
empire of Darius. 13. Give the Roman names of Spain, Italy, Gaul, Germany, 
Britain, Scotland, and Ireland. 14. Contrast the Roman armies under the empire 
with the standing armies of modern Europe. 15. Trace on the map, page 205, 
the Roman roads in Britain. 16. "To the Roman city the empire was political 
death; to the provinces it was the beginning of new life." Comment on this state- 
ment. 17. Why should Rome have made a greater success of her imperial policy 
than either Athens or Sparta? 18. Compare Roman liberaUty in extending the 
franchise with the similar poHcy displayed by the United States. 19. Compare the 
freedom of trade between the provinces of the Roman Empire with that between 
the states of the American Union. 20. On the map, page 48, trace the trade route, 
during imperial times. 21. Compare as civilizing forces the Roman and the Per- 
sian empires. 22. What was the Pax Romana? What is the Pax Britannica? 
23. Compare the Romanization of the ancient world with that process of Ameri- 
canization which is going on in the United States to-day. 24. Explain this state- 
ment: "The Roman Empire is the lake in which all the streams of ancient history 
lose themselves and which all the streams of modern history flow out of." 
25. "Republican Rome had little to do, either by precept or example, with the mod- 
ern life of Europe, Imperial Rome everything." Can you justify this statement? 



CHAPTER X 

THE LATER EMPIRE: CHRISTIANITY IN THE ROMAN 
WORLD, 180-395 A.D. 

74. The "Soldier Emperors," 180-284 A.D. 

The period called the Later Empire covers the two hundred 
and fifteen years from the accession of Commodus to the final 
division of the Roman world at the death of ^j^^ Later 
Theodosius. It formed, in general, a period of Empire, 180- 
decline. The very existence of the empire was ' * 

threatened, both from within and from without. The armies 
on the frontiers often set up their favorite leaders as contestants 
for the throne, thus provoking civil war. Ambitious governors 
of distant provinces sometimes revolted against a weak or 
unpopular emperor and tried to establish independent states. 
The Germans took advantage of the unsettled condition of 
afifairs to make constant inroads. About the middle of the 
third century it became necessary to surrender to them the 
great province of Dacia, which Trajan had won.^ A serious 
danger also appeared in the distant East. Here the Persians, 
having overcome the Parthians,^ endeavored to recover from 
Roman hands the Asiatic provinces which had once belonged 
to the old Persian realm. Though the Persians failed to make 
any permanent conquest of Roman territory, their constant at- 
tacks weakened the empire at the very time when the northern 
barbarians had again become a menace. 

The rulers who occupied the throne during the first half of 
this troubled period are commonly known as the ''Soldier 
Emperors," because so many of them owed their "imperial 
position to the swords of the legionaries. Em- phantoms" 
peror after emperor followed in quick succession, to enjoy a 
brief reign and then to perish in some sudden insurrection. 

1 See page 200. 2 See pages 184, 194. 

219 



220 



The Later Empire 



Within a single year (237-238 a.d.) six rulers were chosen, wor- 
shiped, and then murdered by their troops. ''You httle know,'* 
said one of these imperial phantoms, ''what a poor thing it is 
to be an emperor." ^ 

The close of the third century thus found the empire engaged 
in a struggle for existence. No part of the Roman world had 
Political situ- escaped the ravages of war. The fortification of 
ation in 284 the capital city by the emperor Aurelian was 
■ ' itself a testimony to the altered condition of affairs. 

The situation was desperate, yet not hopeless. Under an able 




The Wall of Rome 

Constructed by Aurelian and rebuilt by Honorius. The material is concrete faced with 
brick; thickness, 13 feet; greatest height, 58 feet. This is still the wall of the modern city, 
although at present no effort is made to keep it in repair. 

ruler, such as Aurelian, Rome proved to be still strong enough 
to repel her foes. It was the work of the even more capable 
Diocletian to establish the empire on so solid a foundation that 
it endured with almost undiminished strength for another 
hundred years. 



75. The Absolute Emperors," 284-395 A.D. 

Diocletian, whose reign is one of the most illustrious in Roman 
history, entered the army as a common soldier, rose to high 

1 Vopiscus, Saturninus, lo. 



The "Absolute Emperors" 221 

command, and fought his way to the throne. A strong, am- 
bitious man, Diocletian resolutely set himself to Reig^ ^f d^q. 
the task of remaking the Roman government. His cletian, 284- 
success in this undertaking entitles him to rank, as 
a statesman and administrator, with Augustus. 

The reforms of Diocletian were meant to remedy those weak- 
nesses in the imperial system disclosed by the disasters of the 
preceding century. In the first place, experience Weaknesses 
showed that the empire was unwieldy. There were in the im- 
the distant frontiers on the Rhine, Danube, and ^^^^ ^^^ ^^ 
Euphrates to be guarded; there were all the provinces to be 
governed. A single ruler, however able and energetic, had more 
than he could do. In the second place, the succession to the 
imperial throne was uncertain. Now an emperor named his 
successor, now the Senate elected him, and now the swords of 
the legionaries raised him to the purple. Such an unsettled 
state of affairs constantly invited those struggles between rival 
pretenders which had so nearly brought the empire to de- 
struction. 

Diocletian began his reforms by adopting a scheme for "part- 
nership emperors." He shared the Roman world with a trusted 
lieutenant named Maximian. Each was to be an Diocletian's 
Augustus, with all the honors of an emperor, reforms 
Diocletian ruled the East; Maximian ruled the West. Further 
partnership soon seemed advisable, and so each Augustus chose 
a younger associate, or CcBsar, to aid him in the government and 
at his death or abdication to become his heir. Diocletian also 
remodeled the provincial system. The entire empire, including 
Italy, was divided into more than one hundred provinces. 
They were grouped into thirteen dioceses and these, in turn, 
into four prefectures.^ This reform much lessened the author- 
ity of the provincial governor, who now ruled over a small 
district and had to obey the vicar of his diocese. 

The emperors, from Diocletian onward, were autocrats. 

1 The number and arrangement of these divisions varied somewhat during the 
fourth century. See the map, between pages 222-223, for the system as it existed 
about 395 A.D. 



222 The Later Empire 

They bore the proud title of Dominus (''Lord"). They were 
The new ab- treated as gods. Everything that touched their 
soiutism persons was sacred. They wore a diadem of pearls 

and gorgeous robes of silk and gold, like those of Asiatic mon- 
archs. They filled their palaces with a crowd of fawning, flat- 
tering nobles, and busied themselves with an endless round of 
stately and impressive ceremonials. Hitherto a Roman em- 
peror had been an imperator,^ the head of an army. Now he 
became a king, to be greeted, not with the old military salute, 
but with the bent knee and the prostrate form of adoration. 
Such pomps and vanities, which former Romans would have 
thought degrading, helped to inspire reverence among the 
servile subjects of a later age. If it was the aim of Augustus to 
disguise, it was the aim of Diocletian to display, the un- 
sounded power of a Roman emperor. 

There can be little doubt that Diocletian's reforms helped to 
prolong the existence of the empire. In one respect, however, 
Constantine ^^^^ must be pronounced a failure. They did not 
sole emperor, end the disputes about the succession. Only two 
years after the abdication of Diocletian there were 
six rival pretenders for the title of Augustus. Their dreary 
struggles continued, until at length two emperors were left — 
Constantine in the West, Licinius in the East. After a few 
years of joint rule another civil war made Constantine supreme. 
The Roman world again had a single master. 

Constantine was an able general and a wise statesman. Two 
events of lasting importance have made his reign memorable. 
Reign of Con- It was Constantine who recognized Christianity 
stantine g^g q^^ ^f ^j^g reHgions of the empire and thus 

paved the way for the triumph of that faith over the ancient 
paganism. His work in this connection will be discussed pres- 
ently. It was Constantine, also, who established a new capital 
for the Roman world at Byzantium ^ on the Bosporus. He 
christened it "New Rome," but it soon took the emperor's 
name as Constantinople, the "City of Constantine." ' 

1 See page i86. ^ See the map, page 340. 

* See page 88. 




THE ROMAN EMPIRE 

about 395 A. D. 



100 200 



*00 600 EOO 700 



Scale of.Miles 



THE M.-N. WORKS. BUFFALO. N V. 



Longitude 10° East 



( knw - 



20" 



25" 



35" 



40" 



I 1 \ 

lOVINCES 12 Novempopulana 

13 Fennine and Graian 

ECTURE OF GAUL 14 Vi^lnsia 

DIOCESE OP BRITAIN 

1 Britain I 

2 Britain H 
8 Flavia Caesariensis 

4 Maxima Caesariensia 

5 Valentia 

PREFECTURE OF 
ITALY 

DIOCESE OF AFRICA 

1 Byzacium 

2 Manretania Caesar- 
iensis 

S Mauretania Sitif ensis 

4 Numidia 

5 Tripolitana 

DIOCESE OP THE CITT 
OF ROME 

1 Apulia and Calabria 

2 Bruttia and Lucania 



OCESE OP SPAIN 

itica 

earic Isles 

■thaginiensia 

icia 

litania 

aretania Tingitana 

racon ensis 

)CESE OF GAUL 

ijtaine I 

litaine II 

^ca I 

jicall 

mania I 

mania II 

•dunensis 

itime Alps 

dma Sequanorom 

bonnensis I 

bonnensis II 



\ r 

3 Campania 

4 Corsica 

5 Picenum Snbnrbi- 

carium 

6 Sanuiium 

7 Sardinia 

8 Sicily 

9 Tuscany and Umbria 
10 Valeria 

DIOCESE OF ITALY 

1 Aemilia 

2 Cottian Alps 

3 Dalmatia 

4 Flaminia and Picenum 

Annonarium 

5 Liguria 

6 Noricum mediter- 

raneum 

7 Noricum ripeusa 

8 Pannonia I 

9 Pannonia II 

10 Raetia I 

11 Raetia n 

12 Savia 

13 Valeria ripeneifl 



14 Venetia and Istria 
PREFECTURE OF 
ILLTRICUM 

DIOCESE OF MACEDONIA 

1 Achaia 

2 Crete 

8 Epirua nova 
4 Epirus vetua 
6 Macedonia 

6 Macedonia Salutaria 

7 Thessaly 

DIOCESE OF DACIA 

1 Dacia mediterranea 

2 Dacia ripensia 

3 Dardania 

4 Moesia I 

6 Praevalitana 
PREFECTURE OP 
THE EAST 

DIOCESE OP EGYPT 

1 Arcadia 

2 Augustamnica 



\ 

3 Egypt 

4 Lower Libya 

5 Thebais 

6 Upper Libya 

DIOCESE OF THB EAST 

1 Arabia 

2 Cilicia I 
8 Cilicia II 

4 Cyprus 

5 Eufratensis 

6 Isauria 

7 Mesopotamia 

8 Osrhoene 

9 Palestine I 

10 Palestine II 

11 Palestine (Salutaris) 

12 Phoenicia 

13 Phoenicia Libani 

14 Syria I 

15 Syria Salutaris 

DIOCESE OF PONTUS ^ 

1 Armenia I 

2 Armenia II 

8 Bithynia ' 

4 Cappadocia 1 

5 Cappadocia n 

6 Galatia 

7 Galatia Salutaria 

8 Helenopontua 

9 Honorias 

10 Paphlagonia 

11 Pontus PoiemoniacuB 
DIOCESE OF ASIA "^ 

1 Asia 

2 Caria 

3 Hellespontua 

4 Lycaonia 

5 Lycia 

6 Lydia 

7 Pamphylia 

8 Phrygia Pacatiana 

9 Phrygia Salutaris 
10 Pisidia 

DIOCESE OF THRACB 

1 Europe 

2 Haemimontium 
Moesia II 

4 Rhodopa 

5 Scythia 
iraca 




The ''Absolute Emperors'' 223 

Several good reasons could be urged for the removal of the 
world's metropolis from the Tiber to the Bosporus. The Roman 
Empire was ceasing to be one empire. Constan- Foundation of 
tine wanted a great city for the eastern half to Constanti- 
balance Rome in the western half. Again, Con- ^°^ ® 
stantinople, far more than Rome, was the military center of 
the empire. Rome lay too far from the vulnerable frontiers; 
Constantinople occupied a position about equidistant from the 
Germans on the lower Danube and the Persians on the Eu- 
phrates. Finally, Constantine believed that Christianity, 
which he wished to become the prevailing religion, would en- 
counter less opposition and criticism in his new city than at 
Rome, with its pagan atmosphere and traditions." Constan- 
tinople was to be not simply a new seat of government but also 
distinctively a Christian capital. Such it remained for more 
than eleven centuries.^ 

After the death of Constantine the Roman world again 
entered on a period of disorder. The inroads of the Germans 
across the Danube and the Rhine threatened the After Con- 
European provinces of the empire with dissolu- stantine, 337- 
tion. The outlook in the Asiatic provinces, over- 
run by the Persians, was no less gloomy. Meanwhile the east- 
ern and western halves of the empire tended more and more 
to grow apart. The separation between the two had become 
well marked by the close of the fourth century. After the 
death of the emperor Theodosius (395 a.d.) there came to 
be in fact, if not in name, a Roman Empire in the East and 
a Roman Empire in the West. 

More than four hundred years had now elapsed since the 
battle of Actium made Octavian supreme in the Roman world. 
If we except the abandonment of Trajan's con- poutjcal situ- 
quests beyond the Danube and the Euphrates,^ ationin395 
no part of the huge empire had as yet succumbed 
to its enemies. The subject peoples, during these four centu- 
ries, had not tried to overthrow the empire or to withdraw from 

^ Until the capture of the city by the Ottoman Turks in 1453 a.d. 
2 See pages 200, 219. 



224 The Later Empire 

its protection. The Roman state, men believed, would endure 
forever. Yet the times were drawing nigh when the old order 
of things was to be broken up; when barbarian invaders were 
to seize the fairest provinces as their own; and when new king- 
doms, ruled by men of Germanic speech, were to arise in lands 
that once obeyed Rome. 

76. Economic and Social Conditions in the Third 
and Fourth Centuries 

Rome, it has been said, was not built in a day; the rule of 
Rome was not destroyed in a day. When we speak of the " fall " 
The " fall " of Rome, we have in mind, not a violent catas- 
of Rome trophe w^hich suddenly plunged the civilized world 

into ruin, but rather the slow and gradual decay of ancient 
society throughout the basin of the Mediterranean. This 
decay set in long before the Germans and the Persians be- 
came a serious danger to the empire. It would have con- 
tinued, doubtless, had there been no Germans and Persians 
to break through the frontiers and destroy. The truth seems 
to be that, during the third and fourth centuries of our era, 
classical civilization, like an overtrained athlete, had grown 
"stale." 

It is not possible to set forth all the forces which century 
after century had been sapping the strength of the state. The 
Depopulation ^^^t obvious element of w^eakness was the want 
due to the of men to fill the armies and to cultivate the fields, 
s ave sys em n^^^ slave system seems to have been partly re- 
sponsible for this depopulation. The peasant on his Httle 
homestead could not compete with the wealthy noble whose 
vast estates w^re w^orked by gangs of slaves. The artisan 
could not support himself and his family on the pittance that 
kept his slave competitor alive. Peasants and artisans grad- 
ually drifted into the cities, where the pubUc distributions of 
grain, wine, and oil assured them of a living with little expense 
and almost without exertion. In both Italy and the provinces 
there was a serious decline in the number of free farmers 
and free workingmen. 



Economic and Social Conditions 225 

But slavery was not the only cause of depopulation. There 
was a great deal of what has been called "race suicide" in the 
old Roman world. Well-to-do people, who could "Race 
easily support large families, often refused to be smcide" 
burdened with them. Childlessness, however, was not confined 
to the wealthy, since the poorer classes, crowded in the huge 
lodging houses of the cities, had no real family life. Roman 
emperors, who saw how difficult it was to get a sufficient num- 
ber of recruits for the army, and how whole districts were going 
to waste for lack of people to cultivate them, tried to repopu- 
late the empire by force of law. They imposed penalties for the 
childlessness and celibacy of the rich, and founded institutions 
for the rearing of children, that the poor might not fear to raise 
large families. Such measures were scarcely successful. "Race 
suicide" continued during pagan times and even during the 
Christian age. 

The next most obvious element of weakness was the shrinkage 
of the revenues. The empire suffered from want of money, as 
well as from want of men. To meet the heavy cost Loss of 
of the luxurious court, to pay the salaries of the revenues 
swarms of public officials, to support the idle populace in the 
great cities required a vast annual income. But just when 
public expenditures were rising by leaps and bounds, it became 
harder and harder to secure sufficient revenue. Smaller num- 
bers meant fewer taxpayers. Fewer taxpayers meant a heavier 
burden on those who survived to pay. 

These two forces — the decline in population and the decline in 
wealth — worked together to produce economic ruin. It is no 
wonder, therefore, that in province after province Economic 
large tracts of land went out of cultivation, that ^^^^ 
the towns decayed, and that commerce and manufactures 
suffered an appalling decline. "Hard times" settled on the 
Roman world. 

Doubtless still other forces were at work to weaken the 
state and make it incapable of further resistance influence of 
to the barbarians. Among such forces we must Christianity 
reckon Christianity itself. By the close of the fourth century 



226 The Later Empire 

Christianity had become the religion of the empire. The new 
faith, as we shall soon see, helped, not to support, but 
rather to undermine, pagan society. 

77. The Preparation for Christianity 

Several centuries before the rise of Christainity many Greek 
thinkers began to feel a growing dissatisfaction with the crude 
Decline of faith that had come down to them from prehis- 
paganism ^qj-j^, times. They found it more and more diffi- 

cult to believe in the Olympian deities, who were fashioned like 
themselves and had all the faults of mortal men.^ An adulter- 
ous Zeus, a bloodthirsty Ares, and a scolding Hera, as Homer 
represents them, were hardly divinities that a cultured Greek 
could love and worship. For educated Romans, also, the rites 
and ceremonies of the ancient religion came gradually to lose 
their meaning. The worship of the Roman gods had never 
appealed to the emotions. Now it tended to pass into the mere 
mechanical repetition of prayers and sacrifices. Even the 
worship of the Caesars,^ which did much to hold the empire 
together, failed to satisfy the spiritual wants of mankind. It 
made no appeal to the moral nature; it brought no message, 
either of fear or hope, about a future world and a life beyond 
the grave. 

During these centuries a system of Greek philosophy, called 
Stoicism, gained many adherents among the Romans. Any one 
who will read the Stoic writings, such as those of 
the noble emperor, Marcus Aurenus,^ will see how 
nearly Christian was the Stoic faith. It urged men to forgive 
injuries — to ''bear and forbear." It preached the brotherhood 
of man. It expressed a humble and unfaltering reliance on a 
divine Providence. To many persons of refinement Stocism 
became a real religion. But since Stoic philosophy could reach 
and influence only the educated classes, it could not become a 
religion for all sorts and conditions of men. 

Many Greeks found a partial satisfaction of their religious 
longings in secret rites called mysteries. Of these the most 
1 See page 77. * See page 196. ' See page 201. 



The Preparation for Christianity 227 

important grew up at Eleusis/ a little Attic town thirteen 
miles from Athens. They were connected with the -^j^g £jgy_ 
worship of Demeter, goddess of vegetation and of sinian mys- 
the life of nature. The celebration of the Eleusinian ®"®^ 
mysteries came in September and lasted nine days. When the 
candidates for admission to the secret rites were worked up 
to a state of religious excitement, they entered a brilliantly 
lighted hall and witnessed a passion play dealing with the 
legend of Demeter. They seem to have had no direct moral 
instruction but saw, instead, Hving pictures and pantomimes 
which represented the life beyond the grave and held out to 
them the promise of a blessed lot in another world. As an 
Athenian orator said, ''Those who have shared this initia- 
tion possess sweeter hopes about death and about the whole 
of life." 2 

The Eleusinian mysteries, though unknown in the Homeric 
Age, were already popular before the epoch of the Persian wars. 
They became a Panhellenic festival open to all influence of 
Greeks, women as well as men, slaves as well as *^® mysteries 
freemen. The privilege of membership was later extended to 
Romans. During the first centuries of our era the influence 
of the mysteries increased, as faith in the Olympian religion 
decHned. They formed one of the last strongholds of paganism 
and endured till the triumph of Christianity in the Roman 
world. 

The Asiatic conquests of Alexander, followed in later cen- 
turies by the extension of Roman rule over the eastern coasts of 

the Mediterranean, brought the classical peoples ^ . , ,. 
. ' ,. . , . ^ ^ ^ ' Oriental reU- 

mto contact with new religions which had arisen gions in the 

in the Orient. Slaves, soldiers, traders, and trav- Ro™an 

Empire 
elers carried the eastern faiths to the West, where 

they speedily won many followers. Even before the downfall 

of the republic the deities of Asia Minor, Egypt, and Persia had 

found a home at Rome. Under the empire many men and 

women were attracted to their worship. 

Perhaps the most remarkable of the Asiatic religions was 

^ See the map, page 107. ^ Isocrates, Panegyricus, 29. 



228 



The Later Empire 



Mithra 



Mithraism. Mithra first appears as a Persian sun god, the 
leader of Ahuramazda's hosts in the ceaseless 
struggle against the forces of darkness and evil.^ 

As a god of light Mithra was also a god of truth and purity. 

His worship, spreading over the length and breadth of the 




<vli^Uilib4K^^' 



A MiTHRAic Monument 



A bas-relief discovered in 1838 a.d. in a cave near Heidelberg, Germany. The central group 
represents Mithra slaying the bull. The smaller reliefs show scenes from the life of Mithra, 
including his birth from the rock and his ascent to Ahuramazda. 



Roman Empire, became the noblest of all pagan faiths. Men 
saw in Mithra a Lord and Giver of Life, who protected the 
weak and miserable, cleansed the sinner, conquered death, and 
procured for his faithful followers the crown of immortality. 

The Mithraic w^orship took the form of a mystery with seven 
grades, or degrees, through which candidates passed by ordeals 
The worship of initiation. The rites included a kind of baptism 
of Mithra ^^j^]^ j^^jy water, a sacrificial meal of bread and 
wine, and daily litanies to the sun. Mithra was represented as 
a youthful hero miraculously born from a rock at the dawn of 

1 See page 54. 



Rise and Spread of Christianity 229 

day; for this reason his worship was always conducted under- 
ground in natural or artificial caves, or in cellars. At the back 
of one of these subterranean temples would be often a picture 
of Mithra slaying a bull, and an inscription: "To the Un- 
conquerable Sun, to Mithra." ^ 

The new Oriental religions all appealed to the emotions. 
They helped to satisfy the spiritual wants of men and women, 
by dwelling on the need of purification from sin significance 
and by holding forth the prospect of a happier oftheOnen- 
life beyond the tomb. It is not strange, therefore, ^^ igions 
that they penetrated every province of the Roman Empire and 
flourished as late as the fourth century of our era. Christianity 
had no more dangerous antagonists than the followers of 
Mithra and other eastern divinities. 

78. Rise and Spread of Christianity 

Christianity rose among the Jews, for Jesus was a Jew and 
his disciples were Jews. At the time of the death of Jesus ^ 
his immediate followers numbered scarcely a Christianity 
hundred persons. The catastrophe of the cruci- among the 
lixion struck them with sorrow and dismay. "^^ 
When, however, the disciples came to believe in the resurrection 
of their master, a wonderful impetus was given to the growth 
of the new religion. They now asserted that Jesus was the true 
Messiah, or Christ, who by rising from the dead had sealed the 
truth of his teachings. For several years after the crucifixion, 
the disciples remained at Jerusalem, preaching and making 
converts. The new doctrines met so much opposition on the 
part of Jewish leaders in the capital city that the followers 

^ Soli Invicto MithrcB. An interesting survival of Mithra worship is the date of 
our festival of Christmas. The 2Sth of December was the day of the great annual 
celebration in memory of the Persian deity. In 274 a.d. the emperor Aurelian raised 
a gorgeous temple to the sun god in the Campus Martins, dedicating it on the 25th 
of December, "the birthday of the Unconquerable Sun." After the triumph of 
Christianity the day was still honored, but henceforth as the anniversary of the 
birth of Christ. 

^ The exact date of the crucifixion is unknown. It took place during the reign 
of Tiberius, when Pontius Pilatus was procurator of Judea. 



230 



The Later Empire 



of Jesus withdrew to Samaria, Damascus, and Antioch. In all 
these places there were large Jewish communities, among 
whom Peter and his fellow apostles labored zealously. 

Up to this time the new faith had been spread only among 
the Jews. The first Christians did not neglect to keep up all 
Missionary ^^^ customs of the Jewish religion It was even 
labors of doubted for a while whether any but Jews could 

^^ properly be allowed within the Christian fold. 

A new convert, Saul of Tarsus, afterwards the Apostle Paul, 




Modern Jerusalem and the Mount of Olives 



did most to admit the Gentiles, or pagans, to the privileges 
of the new religion. Though born a Jew, Paul had been 
trained in the schools of Tarsus, a city of Asia Minor which 
was a great center of Greek learning. He possessed a knowl- 
edge of Greek philosophy, and particularly of Stoicism. This 
broad education helped to make him an acceptable missionary 
to Greek-speaking peoples. During more than thirty years 
of unceasing activity Paul established churches in Asia Minor, 
Greece, Macedonia, and Italy. To many of these churches 
he wrote the letters (epistles), which have found a place in 
the New Testament. So large a part of the doctrines of 



Rise and Spread of Christianity 



231 




Christianity has been derived from Paul's writings that we 
may well speak of him as the second founder of the Christian 
faith. 

Christianity advanced with marvelous rapidity over the 
Roman world. At the close of the first century there were 
Christians every- Christianity 
where in Asia Minor, among the 

rrii 1 . Gentiles 

1 he second century 

saw the establishment of flourish- 
ing churches in almost every 
province of the empire. A hun- 
dred years later there were mis- 
sionaries along the Rhine, on the 
Danube frontier, and in distant 
Britain. "We are but of yester- 
day," says a Christian writer, with 
pardonable exaggeration, "yet we 
have filled all your places of re- 
sort — cities, islands, fortresses, 

towns, markets, the camp itself, comes from the catacombs of St 

the tribes, town councils, the 

palace, the senate, and the forum. We have left to you only 

the temples of your gods." ^ 

Certain circumstances contributed to the success of this 
gigantic missionary enterprise. Alexander's conquests in the 
East and those of Rome in the West had done ^ ,. . 

. . Conditions 

much to remove the barriers to mtercourse be- favoring the 

tween nations. The spread of Greek and Latin !P^®.^^. °^. 

1 1 r 1 T*^ 1- Christianity 

as the common languages of the Mediterranean 

world furnished a medium in which Christian speakers and 
writers could be easily understood. The scattering of the Jews 
after the destruction of Jerusalem ^ provided the Christians 
with an audience in many cities of the empire. The early mis- 
sionaries, such as Paul himself, were often Roman citizens who 
enjoyed the protection of the Roman law and profited by the 
ease of travel which the imperial rule had made possible. At 



Madonna and 
Child 

The earliest known 

representation of Mary 

and the infant Jesus. 

The prophet Isaiah is 

shown pointing to the new star. The 

picture dates from about 200 a.d. and 



Tertullian, Apology, si- 



2 See page 199, note i. 



232 



The Later Empire 




Organization 
of early 
Christianity 



no Other period in ancient history were conditions so favorable 

for the rapid spread of a new religion. 

While Christianity was conquering the world, the believers 

in its doctrines were grouping themselves into communities or 

churches. Every city had a 
congregation of Christian 
worshipers.^ They met, not 
in synagogues as did the Jews, but in 
private houses, where they sang hymns, 
listened to readings from the Holy Scrip- 
tures, and partook of a sacrificial meal in 
memory of the last supper of Jesus with 
his disciples. Certain officers called pres- 
byters,^ or elders, were chosen to conduct 
the services and instruct the converts. 
The chief presbyter received the name of 
''overseer," or bishop.^ Each church had 
also one or more deacons, who visited the 
sick and relieved the wants of the poor. 
Every Christian community thus formed 
a little brotherhood of earnest men and 
women, united by common beliefs and 
common hopes. 



Christ, the Good 
Shepherd 

Imperial Museum, Con- 
stantinople 
This quaint, rude figure, 
found in an early Christian 
tomb in Asia Minor, dates 
probably from the begin- 
ning of the third century. 
It is the oldest known 
statue of Christ. He wears 
the coarse garb of an Ori- 
ental peasant; his -coun- 
tenance is gentle and 
thoughtful; on his broad 
shoulders rests a lamb. 



toward the 
Christians 



79. The Persecutions 

The new religion from the start met 
popular disapproval. The early Chris- 
Hostility tians, who tried to keep them- 
selves free from idolatry, were 
regarded as very unsociable 
persons. They never appeared at public 
feasts, and entertainments. They would not 
join in the amusements of the circus or the amphitheater. They 
refused to send their children to the schools. The ordinary citi- 

1 The meeting was called ecdesia from the Greek word for "popular assembly." 
Hence comes our word "ecclesiastical." • Whence the word "priest." 

^ The word "bishop" comes from the Greek episkopos and means, literally, an 
"overseer." 



The Persecutions 233 

zen could not understand such people. It is not surprising, 
therefore, that they gained the evil name of " haters of mankind." 

If the multitude despised the Christians, they sometimes 
feared them as well. Strange stories circulated about the secret 
meetings of the Christians, who at their sacri- superstitious 
ficial meal were declared to feast on children, fear of the 
The Christians, too, were often looked upon as ^stians 
magicians who caused all sorts of disasters. It was not difficult 
to excite the vicious crowds of the larger cities to riots and 
disorders, in which many followers of the new religion lost 
their lives. 

Such outbursts of mob hatred were only occasional. There 
would have been no organized, persistent attack, if the imperial 
government had not taken a hand. Rome, which Antagonism 
had treated so many other foreign faiths with of the Roman 
careless indifference or even with favor, which had sovernmen 
tolerated the Jews and granted to them special privileges of 
worship, made a dehberate effort to crush Christianity. 

Rome entered on the persecutions because it saw in Chris- 
tianity that which threatened its own existence. The Christians 
declined to support the state religion; they even . . , , 
condemned it unsparingly as sinful and idolatrous, the Christians 

The Christians, moreover, would not worship the toward 

pagamsm 
genius, or guardian spirit of the emperor, and would 

not burn incense before his statue, which stood in every town. 
Such a refusal to take what was really an oath of allegiance was 
regarded as an act of rebellion. These feelings of hostiUty to the 
Christians were strengthened by their unwillingness to serve in 
the army and to swear by the pagan gods in courts of law. In 
short, the members of this new sect must have appeared very 
unruly subjects who, if allowed to become numerous enough, 
would endanger the security of the government. 

As early as the beginning of the second century Roman offi- 
cials began to search out and punish Christians, Diocletian's 
wherever they were found. During the third cen- persecution, 
tury the entire power of the imperial government 
was directed against this outlawed sect. The persecution which 



234 



The Later Empire 



began under Diocletian was the last and most severe. With 
some interruptions it continued for eight years. Only Gaul 
and Britain seem to have escaped its ravages. The govern- 
ment began by burning the holy books of the Christians, by 

"' " ' ^ ' ' property. Members of 

the hated faith lost their 

privileges as full Roman 

citizens. Then sterner 

measures followed. The 

prisons were crowded 

with Christians. Those 

who refused to recant and 

sacrifice to the emperor 

m % ' ^HHH^ ]\ fP'^'"''^ C^iej^»i , were thrown to wild ani- 

m^ 'I ""^^^'-j Jj^ ,1 mals in the arena, 

llUji^ ^^^^^^^^^^ l^%m„^ I stretched on the rack, or 

burned over a slow fire. 
Every refinement of tor- 
ture was practiced. Pa- 
ganism, fighting for its 
existence, left no means 
untried to root out a sect 
both despised and feared. 
The Christians joyfully 
suffered for their rehgion. 
They wel- 
comed the 
torture and death which 
would gain for them a heavenly crown. Those who perished 
were called martyrs, that is, ''witnesses." Even now the festal 
day of a martyr is the day of his death. 

80. Triumph of Christianity 

Diocletian's persecution, which continued for several years 
after his abdication, came to an end in 311 a.d. In that year 




Interior of the Catacombs 

The catacombs of Rome are underground ceme- 
teries in which the Christians buried their dead. 
The bodies were laid in recesses in the walls of the 
galleries or underneath the pavement. Several tiers 
of galleries (in one instance as many as seven) lie one 
below the other. Their total length has been esti- 
mated at no less than six hundred miles. The illus- 
tration shows a small chamber, or cubiculum. The 
graves have been opened and the bodies taken 
away. 



The martyrs 



I 



Triumph of Christianity 



235 



>x4v_ 






Galerius, the ruler in the East, pubUshed an edict which per- 
mitted the Christians to rebuild their churches 
and worship undisturbed. It remained for the em- becomes a 
peror Constantine to take the next significant tplerated re- 
step. In 313 A.D. Constantine and his colleague, 
Licinius, issued the Edict of Milan, which proclaimed for the 
first time in history the noble principle of 
religious toleration. It gave absolute free- 
dom to every man to choose and follow 
the religion which he deemed best suited to 
his needs. This edict placed the Christian 
faith on an equality with paganism. 

The conversion of Constantine is one of 
the most important events in ancient his- 
tory. A Roman emperor, him- Constantine's 
self a god to the subjects of conversion 
Rome, became the worshiper of a crucified 
provincial of his empire. Constantine fa- 
vored the Christians throughout his reign. 
He surrounded himself with Christian 
bishops, freed the clergy from taxation, 
and spent large sums in building churches. 
One of his laws abolished the use of the 
cross as an instrument of punishment. 
Another enactment required that magis- 
trates, city people, and artisans were to rest on Sunday. This 
was the first "Sunday law." ^ 

Significant of the emperor's attitude toward Christianity 
was his action in summoning all the bishops in the different 
provinces to a gathering at Nicaea in Asia Minor, church Coun- 
It was the first general council of the Church. ciiatNicaea, 
The principal work of the Council of Nicaea was 
the settlement of a great dispute which had arisen over the 
nature of Christ. Some theologians headed by Arius, a priest 

1 It is highly doubtful, however, whether this legislation had any reference to 
Christianity. More probably, Constantine was only adding the day of the Sun, the 
worship of which was then firmly established in the empire (see page 229, note i) 
to the other holy days of the Roman calendar. 



The Labarum 

The sacred military 
standard of the early 
Christian Roman em- 
perors. First adopted by 
Constantine. It consisted 
of a staff or lance with 
a purple banner on a 
cross-bar. The two Greek 
letters XP (CHR) make 
a monogram of the word 
Christ (Greek Christos). 



236 



The Later Empire 



of Alexandria, maintained that Christ the Son, having been 
created by God the Father, was necessarily inferior to him. 
Athanasius, another Alexandrian priest, opposed this view and 
held that Christ was not a created being, but was in all ways 
equal to God. The Council accepted the arguments of Athana- 
sius, condemned Arius as a heretic, and framed the Nicene Creed, 




Arch of Constantine 

Erected at Rome in 315 a.d. to commemorate the victory of Constantine over Maxentius. 
The monument consists of a central gateway, and two smaller arches flanked by detached 
columns in the Corinthian style. The arch is decorated with four large statues in front of 
the upper story and also with numerous sculptures in relief. 

which is still the accepted summary of Christian doctrine. 
Though thrust out of the Church, Arianism lived to flourish 
anew among the Germanic tribes, of which the majority were 
converted to Christianity by Arian missionaries. 

The recognition given to Christianity by Constantine helped 
immensely to spread the new faith. The emperor Theodosius, 
whose services to the church won him the title of 
''the Great," made Christianity the state religion. 
Sacrifices to the pagan gods were forbidden, the 
temples were closed, and their property was taken 
away. Those strongholds of the old paganism, the 
Delphic oracle, the Olympian games, and the Eleusinian mys- 



Christianity 
becomes the 
state religion 
under Theo- 
dosius, 379- 
395 A.D. 



Christian Influence on Society 237 

teries, were abolished. Even the private worship of the house- 
hold Lares and Penates ^ was prohibited. Though paganism 
lingered for a century or more in the country districts, it became 
extinct as a state religion by the end of the fourth century. 

81. Christian Influence on Society 

The new religion certainly helped to soften and refine 
manners by the stress which it laid upon such ''Christian" 
virtues as humihty, tenderness, and gentleness, j^loral teach- 
By dwelling on the sanctity of human life, Chris- ings of 
tianity did its best to repress the very common ristiamty 
practice of suicide as well as the frightful evil of infanticide.- 
It set its face sternly against the obscenities of the theater and 
the cruelties of the gladiatorial shows.^ In these and other re- 
spects Christianity had much to do with the improvement of 
ancient morals. 

Perhaps even more original contributions of Christianity to 
civilization lay in its social teachings. The belief in the father- 
hood of God implied a corresponding belief in the social teach- 
brotherhood of man. This doctrine of the equaUty ings of 
of men had been expressed before by ancient phi- istiamty 
losophers, but Christianity translated the precept into practice. 
In this way it helped to improve the condition of slaves and, by 
favoring emancipation, even tended to decrease slavery."* 
Christianity also laid much emphasis on the virtue of charity 
and the duty of supporting all institutions which aimed to 
relieve the lot of the poor, the sick, and the downtrodden. 

At the close of the fourth century the Germanic tribes living 
nearest the frontiers had been visited by missionaries and had 
become converts to Christianity. The fact that Christianity A^ 

both Romans and Germans were Christians tended and the 
to lessen the terrors of the invasions and to bring 
about a peaceful fusion of the conquerors and the conquered. 

1 See page 146. s See page 267. 

2 See page 253. * See page 270. 



238 The Later Empire 

studies 

I. On an outline map indicate the territories of the Roman Empire and their 
division, sqs a.d. 2. What is the date of the accession of the emperor Com- 
modus? of the accession of Diocletian? of the death of Theodosius? of the Edict 
of Milan? of the Council of Nicsea? 3. What elements of weakness in the imperial 
system had been disclosed during the century 180-284 a.d.? 4. Explain Diocle- 
tian's plan of " partnership emperors." 5. Define the terms absolutism and central- 
ization. Give an example of a European country under a centralized administration; 
of a European country under an absolute government. 6. What are the advantages 
of local self-government over a centralized government? 7. "The emperor of the 
first century was a Prince, that is, 'first citizen'; the emperor of the fourth century 
was a Sultan." Comment on this statement. 8. What arguments might have 
been made for and against the removal of the capital to Constantinople? 9. Enu- 
merate the causes of the decline of population in imperial times. 10. Show how an 
unwise system of taxation may work great economic injury. 11. Give reasons 
for the decline of Greek and Roman paganism. 12. Why should Mithraism have 
proved "the most formidable foe which Christianity had to overcome"? 13. Were 
any of the ancient religions missionary faiths? 14. When and where was Jesus 
born? Who was king of Judea at the time? Were the Jews independent of Rome 
during the lifetime of Jesus? 15. Locate on the map, facing page 230, the three 
divisions of Palestine at the time of Christ. 16. To what cities of Asia Minor did 
Paul write his epistles, or letters? To what other cities in the Roman Empire? 
17. What was the original meaning of the words "presbyter," "bishop," and 
"deacon"? 18. What is meant by calling the Church an episcopal organization? 
19. How can you explain the persecution of the Christians by an emperor so great 
and good as Marcus Aurelius? 20. What is the meaning of the word "martyr"? 
21. "The blood of the martyrs is the seed of the Church." Explain. 22. Describe 
the Labarum (illustration, page 235). 23. What reasons suggest themselves as 
helping to explain the conversion of the civilized world to Christianity? 



CHAPTER XI 
THE GERMANS TO 476 A.D.i 

82. Germany and the Germans 

The Germans were an Indo-European people, as were their 
neighbors, the Celts of Gaul and Britain. They had lived for 
many centuries in the wild districts of central physical 
Europe north of the Alps and beyond the Danube features of 
and the Rhine. This home land of the Germans ®^°^*^y 
in ancient times was cheerless and unhealthy. Dense forests 
or extensive marshes covered the ground. The atmosphere was 
heavy and humid; in summer clouds and mists brooded over 
the country; and in winter it was covered with snow and ice. 
In such a region everything was opposed to civilization. Hence 
the Germans, though a gifted race, had not advanced as rapidly 
as the Greek and Italian peoples. 

Our earliest notice of the Germans is found in the Commen- 
taries by Julius Caesar, who twice invaded their country. About 
a century and a half later the Roman historian, xhe Germans 
Tacitus, wrote a little book called Germany, which described by 
gives an account of the people as they were before ^ onians 
coming under the influence of Rome and Christianity. Tacitus 
describes the Germans as barbarians with many of the usual 
marks of barbarism. He speaks of their giant size, their fierce, 
blue eyes, and their blonde or ruddy hair. These physical 
traits made them seem especially terrible to the smaller and 
darker Romans. He mentions their love of warfare, the fury 
of their onset in battle, and the contempt which they had for 
wounds and even death itself. When not fighting, they passed 
much of their time in the chase, and still more time in sleep and 

1 Webster, Readings in Ancient History, chapter xxiii, "The Germans as De- 
saibed by Tacitus." 

239 



240 The Germans 

gluttonous feasts. They were hard drinkers, too, and so pas- 
sionately fond of gambling that, when a man's wealth was gone, 
he would even stake his liberty on a single game. In some of 
these respects the Germans resembled our own Indian tribes. 

On the other hand, the Germans had certain attractive quali- 
ties not always found even among civilized peoples. They were 
German hospitable to the stranger, they respected their 

morals sworn w^ord, they loved liberty and hated re- 

straint. Their chiefs, we are told, ruled rather by persuasion 

iFU ThORCG W HNIVEOPAS-TBEMLNcjDO 

Runic Alphabet 

The word "rune" comes from a Gothic word meaning a secret thing, a 
mystery. To the primitive Germans it seemed a mysterious thing that let- 
ters could be used to express thought. The art of writing with an alphabet 
appears to have been introduced into Germanic Europe during the first cen- 
turies of our era. Most Runic inscriptions have been found in Denmark and 
the Scandinavian peninsula. 

than by authority. Above all, the Germans had a pure family 
life. "Almost alone among barbarians," writes Tacitus, ''they 
are content with one wife. No one in Germany laughs at vice, 
nor is it the fashion to corrupt and be corrupted. Good habits 
are here more effectual than good laws elsewhere." ^ The Ger- 
mans, then, were strong and brave, hardy, chaste, and free. 

The Germans, during the three centuries between the time of 
Tacitus and the beginning of the invasions, had advanced some- 
Progress of what in civilization. They were learning to Hve in 
the Germans towns instead of in rude villages, to read and write, 
to make better weapons and clothes, to use money, and to enjoy 
many Roman luxuries, such as wine, spices, and ornaments. 
They were likewise uniting in great confederations of tribes, ruled 
by kings who were able to lead them in migrations to other lands. 

During this same period, also, the Germans increased rapidly 
Reasons for ^^ numbers. Consequently it was a diflScult 
the Germanic matter for them to live by hunting and fishing, or 
migra ons ^^ ^^^^^ yw^q agriculture as their country allowed. 
They could find additional land only in the fertile and well 

1 Tacitus, Germania, 19. 



i 



Breaking of the Danube Barrier 241 

cultivated territories of the Romans. It was this hunger 
for land, together with the love of fighting and the desire for 
booty and adventure, which led to their migrations. 

The German inroads were neither sudden, nor unexpected, 
nor new. Since the days of Marius and of Julius Caesar not a 
century had passed without witnessing some dan- Qj-owing 
gerous movement of the northern barbarians, weakness of 
Until the close of the fourth century Rome had °°^^ 
always held their swarming hordes at bay. Nor were the 
invasions which at length destroyed the empire much more 
formidable than those which had been repulsed many times 
before. Rome fell because she could no longer resist with her 
earlier power. If the barbarians were not growing stronger, the 
Romans themselves were steadily growing weaker. The form 
of the empire was still the same, but it had lost its vigor and its 
vitality.^ 

83. Breaking of the Danube Barrier 

North of the Danube lived, near the close of the fourth cen- 
tury, a German people called Visigoths, or West Goths. Their 
kinsmen, the Ostrogoths, or East Goths, held the 
land north of the Black Sea between the Danube 
and the Don. These two nations had been among the most 
dangerous enemies of Rome. In the third century they made 
so many expeditions against the eastern territories of the empire 
that Aurehan at last surrendered to the Visigoths the great 
province of Dacia.^ The barbarians now came in contact with 
Roman civilization and began to lead more settled lives. Some 
of them even accepted Christianity from Bishop ULfilas, who 
translated the Bible into the Gothic tongue. 

The peaceful fusion of Goth and Roman might have gone on 
indefinitely but for the sudden appearance in 
Europe of the Huns. They were a nomadic people cross the 
from central Asia. Entering Europe north of the Danube, 376 
Caspian Sea, the Huns quickly subdued the Ostro- 
goths and compelled them to unite in an attack upon their 

1 See pages 224-226. 2 ggg p^gg 219. 



242 



The Germans 




(h DD MUM^^Al!^ Ai;^<^Il.^fi^O@ [!Ss;g\!h)«l^Sifl 






German kinsmen. Then the entire nation of Visigoths crowded 
the banks of the Danube and begged the Roman authorities 
to allow them to cross that river and place its broad waters 
between them and their terrible foes. In an evil hour for 

Rome their prayer was 
granted. At length two 
hundred thousand 
Gothic warriors, with 
their wives and children, 
found a home on Ro- 
man soil. 

The settlement of such 
a host of barbarians 
Battle of within the 

Adrianople, frontier of 

378 A.D. ,1 

the empire 

was in itself a dangerous 
thing. The danger was 
increased by the ill treat- 
ment which the immi- 
grants received. The 
Roman officials robbed 
them of their posses- 
sions, withheld the 
promised supplies of 
food, and even tried to 
murder their leaders at 
a banquet. Finally, the 
Germans broke out in 
open revolt. The em- 
peror Valens misjudged 
their strength and rashly gave them battle near Adrianople in 
Thrace. The once invincible legions fell an easy prey to their 
foes, and the emperor himself perished. 

The defeat at Adrianople is considered one of the few really 
decisive battles in the world's history. It showed the barbari- 
ans that they could face the Romans in open fight and beat 




A Page of the Gothic Gospels (Reduced) 

A manuscript of Ulfilas's translation of the Bible 
forms one of the treasures of the library of the univer- 
sity of Upsala, Sweden. It is beautifully written in 
letters of gold and silver on parchment of a rich pur- 
ple dye. In making his version Ulfilas, who was himself 
a converted Visigoth, generally indicated the Gothic 
sounds by means of the Greek alphabet. He added, 
however, a few signs from the Runic alphabet, with 
which the Germans were familiar. 



i 



Breaking of the Danube Barrier 243 

them. And it broke, once for all, the Danube barrier. Swarms 
of fighting men, Ostrogoths as well as Visigoths, Results of 
overran the provinces south of the Danube. The *^® battle 
great ruler, Theodosius,^ saved the empire for a time by grant- 
ing lands to the Germans and by enrolling them in the army 
under the high-sounding title of "allies." Until his death the 
Goths remained quiet — but it was only the lull before the 
storm. 

Theodosius, ''the friend of the Goths," died in 395 a.d., 
leaving the defense of the Roman world to his weakling 
sons, Arcadius and Honorius. In the same year Alaric the 
the Visigoths raised one of their young nobles, Visigoth 
named Alaric, upon a shield and with joyful shouts acclaimed 
him as their king. The Visigothic leader despised the service of 
Rome. His people, he thought, should be masters, not ser- 
vants. Alaric determined to lead them into the very heart of 
the empire, where they might find fertile lands and settle once 
for all. 

Alaric at first fixed his attention on Constantinople. Real- 
izing, at length, how hopeless would be the siege of that great 
city, he turned toward the west and descended Alaric in 
upon Greece. The Germans marched unopposed Greece and • 
through the pass of Thermopylae and devastated * ^ 
central Greece, as the Persians had done nearly nine centuries 
before.2 Then the barbarians entered the Peloponnesus, but 
were soon driven out by Stilicho, a German chieftain who had 
risen to the command of the army of Honorius. Alaric gave 
up Greece only to invade Italy. Before long the Goths crossed 
the Julian Alps and entered the rich and defenseless valley 
of the Po. To meet the crisis the legions were hastily called 
in, even from the distant frontiers. Stilicho formed them into 
a powerful army, beat back the enemy, and captured the 
Visigothic camp, filled with the spoil of Greek cities. In the 
eyes of the Romans Stilicho seemed a second Marius, who 
had arisen in an hour of peril to save Italy from its barbarian 
foes.' 

1 See page 223. 2 See page 98. ' See page 178. 



244 The Germans 

Alaric and his Goths had been repulsed; they had not been 
destroyed. Beyond the Alps they were regaining their shat- 
The Visigoths tered strength and biding their time. Their 
before Rome opportunity came soon enough, when Honorius 
caused Stilicho to be put to death on a charge of plotting to 
seize the throne. The accusation may have been true, but in 
killing Stilicho the emperor had cut off his right hand with his 
left. Now that Stilicho was out of the way, Alaric no longer 
feared to descend again on Italy. The Goths advanced rapidly 
southward past Ravenna, where Honorius had shut himself 
up in terror, and made straight for Rome. In 410 a.d., just 
eight hundred years after the sack of the city by the Gauls,^ 
Rome found the Germans within her gates. 

The city for three days and nights was given up to pillage. 
Alaric, who was a Christian, ordered his followers to respect the 
Sack of Rome churches and their property and to refrain from 
by the Visi- bloodshed. Though the city did not greatly suffer, 
^° ^' ■ ' the moral effect of the disaster was immense. 
Rome the eternal, the unconquerable, she who had taken 
captive all the world, was now herself a captive. The pagans 
saw in this calamity the vengeance of the ancient deities, who 
"had been dishonored and driven from their shrines. The Chris- 
tians believed that God had sent a judgment on the Romans to 
punish them for their sins. In either case the spell of Rome 
was forever broken. 

From Rome Alaric led his hosts, laden with plunder, into 
southern Italy. He may have intended to cross the Mediter- 
Kingdom of ranean and bring Africa under his rule. The plan 
the Visigoths, was never carried out, for the youthful chieftain 
died suddenly, a victim to the Italian fever. After 
Alaric's death, the barbarians made their way northward 
through Italy and settled in southern Gaul and Spain. In these 
lands they founded an independent Visigothic kingdom, the 
first to be created on Roman soil. 

The possessions of the Visigoths in Gaul were seized by their 
neighbors, the Franks, in less than a century; ^ but the Gothic 

1 See page 153. 2 See page 303. 



Breaking of the Rhine Barrier 245 

kingdom in Spain had three hundred years of prosperous life.^ 
The barbarian rulers sought to preserve the insti- Romaniza- 
tutions of Rome and to respect the rights of their tion of the 
Roman subjects. Conquerors and conquered grad- ^^^^° 
ually blended into one people, out of whom have grown the 
Spaniards of modern times. 

84. Breaking of the Rhine Barrier 

After the departure of the Visigoths Rome and Italy remained 

undisturbed for nearly forty years. The western provinces 

were not so fortunate. At the time of Alaric's ^^ ^ 

The Germans 
first attack on Italy the legions along the Rhme cross the 

had been withdrawn to meet him, leaving the ?i^^f'^ 
frontier unguarded. In 406 a.d., four years before 
Alaric's sack of Rome, a vast company of Germans crossed the 
Rhine and swept almost unopposed through Gaul. Some of 
these peoples succeeded in establishing kingdoms for them- 
selves on the ruins of the empire. 

The Burgundians settled on the upper Rhine and in the fer- 
tile valley of the Rhone, in southeastern Gaul. ^. ^ 
Aril r • 1 1 1 Kingdom of 

After less than a century of mdependence they theBurgun- 

were conquered by the Franks.^ Their name, gi^"!'^^^" 
however, survives in modern Burgundy. 

The Vandals settled first in Spain. The territory now called 
Andalusia still preserves the memory of these barbarians. 
After the Visigothic invasion of Spain the Vandals ^ ^ , j^- 
passed over to North Africa. They made them- dom in North 
selves masters of Carthage and soon conquered all tt±^\'-n^^~ 
the Roman province of Africa. Their kingdom here 
lasted about one hundred years. ^ 

While the Visigoths were finding a home in the districts 
north and south of the Pyrenees, the Burgundians in the Rhone 
valley, and the Vandals in Africa, still another ^j^^ Franks 
Germanic people began to spread over northern in northern 
Gaul. They were the Franks, who had long held 
lands on both sides of the lower Rhine. The Franks, unlike the 

^ See page 378. ^ See page 303. ^ See page 330. 



246 The Germans 

other Germans, were not of a roving disposition. They con- 
tented themselves with a gradual advance into Roman terri- 
tory. It was not until near the close of the fifth century that 
they overthrew the Roman power in northern Gaul and began 
to form the Prankish kingdom, out of which modern France has 
grown. 

The troubled years of the fifth century saw also the begin- 
ning of the Germanic conquest of Britain. The withdrawal of 

^, . , the legions from that island left it defenseless, for 

The Angles ... 

and Saxons the Celtic inhabitants were too weak to defend 

m Britain, themselves. Bands of savage Picts from Scotland 

from 449 A.D. ° 

swarmed over Hadrian's Wall, attacking the 
Britons in the rear. Ireland sent forth the no less savage 
Scots. The eastern coasts, at the same time, were constantly 
exposed to raids by German pirates. The Britons, in their 
extremity, adopted the old Roman practice of getting the 
barbarians to fight for them. Bands of Jutes were invited 
over from Denmark in 449 a.d. The Jutes forced back the 
Picts and then settled in Britain as conquerors. Fresh 
swarms of invaders followed them, chiefly Angles from what 
is now Schleswig-Holstein and Saxons from the neighborhood 
of the rivers Elbe and Weser in northern Germany. The 
invaders subdued nearly all that part of Britain that Rome 
had previously conquered. In this way the Angles and Saxons 
became ancestors of the Enghsh people, and Engleland became 
England.^ 

By the middle of the fifth century the larger part of the 
Roman Empire in the West had come under barbarian control. 
Political situ- '^^^ Germans ruled in Africa, Spain, Britain, and 
ation in 451 parts of Gaul. But now the new Germanic king- 
doms, together with what remained of the old 
empire, were threatened by a common foe — the terrible 
Huns. 

1 The invasion of Britain by the Anglo-Saxons was followed by the migration 
across the Channel of large numbers of the defeated islanders. The district in 
France where they settled is called after them, Brittany. 



Inroads of the Huns 



85. Inroads of the Huns 



247 



We know very little about the Huns, except that they were 

not related to the Germans or to any other European people. 

Some scholars believe them to have belonged to ^, „ 

° . The Huns 

the Mongolian race. But the Huns, to the excited 

imagination of Roman writers, were demons rather than men. 
Their olive skins, little, turned-up noses, and black, beady eyes 
must have given them a very frightful appearance. They 
spent most of their time on horseback, sweeping over the coun- 
try Hke a whirlwind and leaving destruction and death in their 
wake. 

The Huns did not become dangerous to Rome for more than 
half a century after their first appearance in Europe.^ During 
this time they moved into the Danube region and Attila the 
settled in the lands now known as Austria and ^"° 
Hungary. At last the Huns found a national leader in Attila, 
"a man born into the world to agitate the nations, the fear of 
all lands," ^ one whose boast it was that the grass never grew 
again where his horse's hoofs had trod. He quickly built up a 
great military power obeyed by many barbarous nations from 
the Caspian to the Rhine. 

Attila, from his capital on the Danube, could threaten both 
the East and the West. The emperors at Constantinople 
bought him off with lavish gifts, and so the robber- invasion of 
ruler turned to the western provinces for his prey. Gaul by 
In 451 A.D. he led his motley host, said to number 
half a million men, across the Rhine. Many a noble munici- 
pality with its still active Roman life was visited by the Huns 
with fire and sword. Paris, it is worthy of note, escaped de- 
struction. That now famous city was then only a little village 
on an island in the Seine. 

In this hour of danger Romans and Germans gave up quarrel- 
ing and united against the common foe. Visigoths under their 
native king hastened from Spain; Burgundians and Franks 
joined their ranks; to these forces a German general, named 

^ See page 241. 2 Jordanes, De rebus Geticis, 35. 



248 The Germans 

Aetius, added the last Roman army in the West. Opposed to 
them Attila had his Huns, the conquered Ostrogoths, and many 
Battle of other barbarian peoples. The battle of Chalons 

Chalons, 451 has well been called a struggle of the nations. It 
' • was one of the fiercest conflicts recorded in history. 

On both sides thousands perished, but so many more of Attila's 
men fell that he dared not risk a fresh encounter on the follow- 
ing day. He drew his shattered forces together and retreated 
beyond the Rhine. 

In spite of this setback Attila did not abandon the hope of 
conquest. The next year he led his still formidable army over 
Attila invades ^^^ JuHan Alps and burned or plundered many 
Italy, 452 towns of northern Italy. A few trembling fugi- 

tives sought shelter on the islands at the head of 
the Adriatic. Out of their rude huts grew up in the Middle 
Ages splendid and famous Venice, a city that in later centuries 
was to help defend Europe against those kinsmen of the Huns, 
the Turks. 

The fiery Hun did not long survive this Italian expedition. 
Within a year he was dead, dying suddenly, it was said, in a 
Death of drunken sleep. The great confederacy which he 

Attila, 453 had formed broke up after his death. The Ger- 
man subjects gained their freedom, and the Huns 
themselves either withdrew to their Asiatic wilds or mingled 
with the peoples they had conquered. Europe breathed again; 
the nightmare was over. 

86. End of the Roman Empire in the West, 476 A.D. 

Rome escaped a visitation by the Huns only to fall a victim, 
three years later, to the Vandals. After the capture of Car- 
Vandal thage,^ these barbarians made that city the seat of 
pirates ^ pirate empire. Putting out in their long, light 
vessels, they swept the seas and raided many a populous city 
on the Mediterranean coast. So terrible were their inroads 
that the word "vandalism" has come to mean the wanton 
destruction of property. 

1 See page 245. 



End of the Roman Empire in the West 249 

In 455 A.D. the ships of the Vandals, led by their king, Gai- 
seric, appeared at the mouth of the Tiber. The Romans could 
offer no resistance. Only the noble bishop Leo sack of Rome 
went out with his clergy to meet the invader and by the Van- 
intercede for the city. Gaiseric promised to spare ^' ' ' 
the lives of the inhabitants and not to destroy the public build- 
ings. These were the best terms he would grant. The Vandals 
spent fourteen days stripping Rome of her wealth. Besides 
shiploads of booty the Vandals took away thousands of Romans 
as slaves, including the widow and two daughters of an emperor. 

After the Vandal sack of Rome the imperial throne became 

the mere plaything of the army* and its leaders. A German 

commander, named Ricimer, set up and deposed ^, „ 

. , . ' T-r The Roman 

four puppet emperors withm five years. He was. Empire in the 

in fact, the real ruler of Italy at this time. After his ^f ^^ ^^~ 

-^ 476 A.D. 

death Orestes, another German general, went a 
step beyond Ricimer's policy and placed his own son on the 
throne of the Caesars. By a curious coincidence, this lad bore 
the name of Romulus, legendary founder of Rome, and the 
nickname of Augustulus ("the little Augustus"). The boy 
emperor reigned less than a year. The German troops clam- 
ored for a third of the lands of Italy and, when their demand 
was refused, proclaimed Odoacer king. The poor little emperor, 
Romulus Augustulus, was sent to a villa near Naples, where he 
disappears from history. 

There was now no emperor in the West. To the men of that 
time it seemed that East and West had been once more joined 
under a single ruler, as in the days of Constantine. political sit- 
The emperors who reigned at Constantinople did uation in 476 
not relinquish their claims to be regarded as the 
rightful sovereigns in Italy and Rome. Nevertheless, as an 
actual fact, Roman rule in the West was now all but extinct. 
Odoacer, the head of the barbarians in Italy, ruled a kingdom as 
independent as that of the Vandals in Africa or that of the 
Visigoths in Spain and Gaul. The date 476 a.d. may therefore 
be chosen as marking, better than any other, the overthrow of 
the Roman Empire in the West by the Germans. 



250 The Germans 

87. Gennanic Influence on Society 

Classical civilization suffered a great shock when the Ger- 
mans descended on the empire and from its provinces carved 
Significance of ^^^ their kingdoms. These barbarians were rude 
the Germanic in manners, were very ignorant, and had little 
invasions t^LSte for anything except fighting and bodily 

enjoyments. They were unlike the Romans in dress and habits 
of life. They lived under different laws, spoke different lan- 
guages, obeyed different rulers. Their invasions naturally 
ushered in a long period of confusion and disorder, during 
which the new race slowly raised itself to a level of culture 
somewhat approaching that which the Greeks and the Romans 
had attained. 

The Germans in many ways did injury to classical civiliza- 
tion. They sometimes destroyed Roman cities and killed or 
Retrogressive enslaved the inhabitants. Even when the invaders 
forces settled peaceably in the empire, they took posses- 

sion of the land and set up their own tribal governments in 
place of the Roman. They allowed aqueducts, bridges, and 
roads to go without repairs, and theaters, baths, and other 
public buildings to sink into ruins. Having no appreciation of 
education, the Germans failed to keep up the schools, univer- 
sities, and libraries. Being devoted chiefly to agriculture, they 
had no need for foreign wares or costly articles of luxury, and 
hence they permitted industry and commerce to languish. In 
short, large parts of western Europe, particularly Gaul, Spain, 
and Britain, fell backward into a condition of ignorance, super- 
stition, and even barbarism. 

But in closing our survey of the Germanic invasions we need 
to dwell on the forces that made for progress, rather than on 
Progressive those that made for decline. Classical civilization, 
forces ^g have already found reason to believe,^ had 

begun to decay long before the Germans broke up the empire. 
The Germans came, as Christianity had come, only to hasten 
the process of decay. Each of these influences, in turn, worked 

> See page 224. 



Germanic Influence on Society 251 

to build up the fabric of a new society on the ruins of the old. 
First Christianity infused the pagan world with its quickening 
spirit and gave a new religion to mankind. Later followed the 
Germans, who accepted Christianity, who adopted much of 
Graeco-Roman culture, and then contributed their fresh blood 
and youthful minds and their own vigorous hfe. 

Studies 

I. On an outline map indicate the extent of Germany in the time of Tacitus. 
2. Make a list of all the Germanic nations mentioned in this chapter, and give a 
short account of each. 3. Give dates for the following: battle of Chalons; sack of 
Rome by Alaric; battle of Adrianople; and end of the Roman Empire in the West. 
4. What resemblances existed between the culture of the Germans and that of the 
early Greeks? 5. Why did the Germans progress more slowly in civilization than 
the Greeks and the Romans? 6. Comment on this statement : " The Germans had 
stolen their way into the very citadel of the empire long before its distant outworks 
were stormed." 7. Why is modern civilization, unlike that of antiquity, in little 
danger from barbarians? 8. Why has the battle of Adrianople been called "the 
Cannae of the fourth century"? 9. Why has Alaric been styled "the Moses of the 
Visigoths"? 10. What is the origin of the geographical names Andalusia, Bur- 
gundy, England, and France? 11. Why was Attila called the "scourge of God" ? 
12. Can you suggest a reason why some historians do not regard Chalons as one of 
the world's decisive battles ? 13. In what sense does the date, 476 a.d., mark 
the "fall" of the Roman Empire? 



CHAPTER XII 
CLASSICAL CIVILIZATION 1 

88. The Classical City 

The history of the Greeks and Romans ought not to be 
studied only in their political development and the biographies 
The center ^^ their great statesmen and warriors. We must 
of classical also know something of ancient literature, phi- 
losophy, and art. Especially do we need to learn 
about the private life of the classical peoples — their manners, 
customs, occupations, and amusements. This life centered in 
the city. 

A Greek or a Roman city usually grew up about a hill of 
refuge {acropolis^ capitolium), to which the people of the sur- 
Origin of the rounding district could flee in time of danger. 
^^*y The hill would be crowned with a fortress and the 

temples of the gods. Not far away was the market place (agora, 
forum), where the people gathered to conduct their business 
and to enjoy social intercourse. About the citadel and market 
place were grouped the narrow streets and low houses of the 
town. 

The largest and most beautiful buildings in an ancient city 
were always the temples, colonnades, and other public struc- 
General ap- tures. The houses of private individuals, for the 
pearance of an most part, had few pretensions to beauty. They 
ci y -^ej-e insignificant in appearance and were often 
built with only one story. From a distance, however, their 
whitewashed walls and red-tiled roofs, shining brightly under 
the warm sun, must have made an attractive picture. 

To the free-born inhabitant of Athens or of Rome his city 

1 Webster, Readings in Ancient History, chapter xxi, "Roman Life as Seen in 
PUny's Letters"; chapter xxii, "A Satirist of Roman Society." 

252 



Education and the Condition of Children 253 

was at once his country and his church, his club and his home. 
He shared in its government; he took part in the Life in 
stately ceremonies that honored its patron god; *^® "*y 
in the city he could indulge his taste for talking and for politics; 
here he found both safety and society. No wonder that an 
Athenian or a Roman learned, from early childhood, to love his 
city with passionate devotion. 

89. Education and the Condition of Children 

The coming of a child, to parents in antiquity as to parents 
now, was usually a very happy event. Especially welcome was 
the birth of a son. The father felt assured that importance 
through the boy his old age would be cared for of male 
and that the family name and the worship of the 
family ancestors would be kept up after his own death. "Male 
children," said an ancient poet, "are the pillars of the house." ^ 
The city, as well, had an interest in the matter, for a male child 
meant another citizen able to take the father's place in the 
army and the public assembly. To have no children was 
regarded as one of the greatest calamities that could befall a 
Greek or a Roman. 

The ancient attitude toward children was in one respect very 

unlike our own. The law allowed a father to do whatever he 

pleased with a newly born child. If he was very ^ , . , , 

'fi.' l.'^A ^( ji, ij Infanticide 

poor, or II his child was deiormed, he could expose 

it in some desert spot, where it soon died. An infant was some- 
times placed secretly in a temple, where possibly some kind- 
hearted person might rescue it. The child, in this case, became 
the slave of its adopter. This custom of exposure, an inher- 
itance from prehistoric savagery, tended to grow less common 
with advancing culture. The complete abolition of infanticide 
was due to the spread of Christian teachings about the sacred- 
ness of human life.^ 

A Greek boy generally had but one name. The favorite 
name for the eldest son was that of his paternal grandfather. A 
father, however, might give him his own name or that of an 

1 Euripides, Iphigenia in Tauris, 57. 2 gee page 237. 



254 Classical Civilization 

intimate friend. The Romans at first seem to have used only 
Names ^^^ ^^^ name, then two were given; and later we 

have the famiUar three-fold name, representing the 
individual, the clan, and the family.^ 




An Athenian School 

Royal Museum, Berlin 

A painting by Duris on a drinking-cup, or cylix. The picture is divided by the two handles. 
In the upper half, beginning at the left: a youth playing the double flute as a lesson to the 
boy before him; a teacher holding a tablet and stylus and correcting a composition; a slave 
ipcedagogus), who accompanied the children to and from school. In the lower half: a master 
teaching his pupil to play the lyre; a teacher holding a half -opened roll, listening to a recita- 
tion by the student before him; a bearded padagogus. The inner picture, badly damaged, 
represents a youth in a bath. 

Greek education consisted of three main branches, known as 
Greek gymnastics, music, and grammar. By gymnastics 

education ^j^^ Greeks meant the physical training in the 
palestra, an open stretch of ground on the outskirts of the city. 

1 In "Marcus Tullius Cicero," "Marcus," the pranomen, corresponds to our 
"given" name; "Tullius," the nomen, marks the clan, or gens; "Cicero," the cogno- 
men, indicates the family. 



Education and the Condition of Children 255 

Here a private teacher gave instruction in the various athletic 
sports which were so popular at the national games. The train- 
ing in music was intended to improve the moral nature of young 
men and to fit them for pleasant social intercourse. They were 
taught to play a stringed intrument, called the lyre, and at the 
same time to sing to their own accompaniment. Grammar, 
the third branch of education, included instruction in writing 




A Roman School Scene 

Wall painting, Herculaneum 



and the reading of the national literature. After a boy had 
learned to write and to read, the schoolmaster took up with 
him the works of the epic poets, especially Homer, besides 
jEsop^s Fables and other popular compositions." The student 
learned by heart much of the poetry and at so early an age that 
he always remembered it. Not a few Athenians, it is said, 
could recite the entire Iliad and Odyssey. 

A Roman boy began his school days at about the age of 
seven. He learned to read, to write with a stylus on wax 
tablets, and to cipher by means of the reckoning Roman 
board, or abacus. He received a httle instruction education 
in singing and memorized all sorts of proverbs and maxims, 
besides the laws of the Twelve Tables.^ His studying went on 
under the watchful eyes of a harsh schoolmaster, who did not 

1 See pages 151, 206. 



256 



Classical Civilization 



hesitate to use the rod. After Rome began to come into close 
contact with Greece, the curriculum was enlarged by the study 
of hterature. The Romans were the first people who made the 
learning of a foreign tongue an essential part of education. 

Schools now arose in which the 
Greek language and literature 
formed the chief subject of instruc- 
tion. As Latin Hterature came into 
being, its productions, especially the 
orations of Cicero and the poems of 
Vergil and Horace, were also used as 
texts for study. 

Persons of wealth or noble birth 
might follow their school training by 
Travel and a university course at a 
study abroad Greek city, such as 
Athens, Alexandria, or Rhodes. Here 
the Roman youth would listen to 
lectures on philosophy, delivered by 
the deep thinkers whom Greece still 
produced, and would profit by the 
treasures of art and science preserved 
in these ancient capitals. Many fa- 
mous Romans thus passed several 
years abroad in graduate study. 
During the imperial age, as we have 
already seen,^ schools of grammar 
and rhetoric arose in the West, particularly in Gaul and Spain, 
and attracted students from all parts of the empire. 




Youth reading a Papyrus 
Roll 

Relief on a sarcophagus 

The papyrus roll was sometimes 
very long. The entire Iliad or 
Odyssey might be contained in a 
single manuscript measuring one 
hundred and fifty feet in length. 
In the third century a.d. the un- 
wieldy roll began to give way to 
the tablet, composed of a number 
of leaves held together by a ring. 
About this time, also, the use of 
vellum, or parchment made of 
sheepskin, became common. 



90. Marriage and the Position of Women 

A young man in Athens or in Rome did not, as a rule, marry 

immediately on coming of age. He might remain a bachelor 

for several years, sometimes till he was thirty or 
Engagements ^, , r ^ 1 ^ i 

over. The young man s father had most to do 

with the selection of a wife. He tried to secure for his son some 

^ See page 218. 



The Home and Private Life 257 

daughter of a friend who possessed rank and property equal to 
his own. The parents of the two parties would then enter into 
a contract which, among other things, usually stated how large 
a dowry the bride's father was to settle on his daughter. An 
engagement was usually very little a matter of romance and 
very much a matter of business. 

The wedding customs of the Greeks and Romans presented 
many likenesses. Marriage, among both peoples, was a reli- 
gious ceremony. On the appointed day the prin- Wedding 
cipals and their guests, dressed in holiday attire, customs 
met at the house of the bride. In the case of a Roman wedding 
the auspices ^ were then taken, and the words of the nuptial 
contract were pronounced in the presence of witnesses. After a 
solemn sacrifice to the gods of marriage, the guests partook of 
the wedding banquet. When night came on, the husband 
brought his wife to her new abode, escorted by a procession of 
torchbearers, musicians, and friends, who sang the happy 
wedding song. 

An Athenian wife, during her younger years, always remained 
more or less a prisoner. She could not go out except by per- 
mission. She took no part in the banquets and Position of 
entertainments which her husband gave. She women 
Uved a hfe of confinement in that quarter of the house assigned 
to the w^omen for their special abode. Married women at Rome 
enjoyed a far more honorable position. Although early custom 
placed the wife, together with her children, in the power of the 
husband,^ still she possessed many privileges. She did not re- 
main all the time at home, but mingled freely in society. She 
was the friend and confidante of her husband, as well as his 
housekeeper. During the great days of Roman history the 
women showed themselves virtuous and dignified, loving wives 
and excellent companions. 

91. The Home and Private Life 

There were no great differences between the dress of the two 
classical peoples. Both wore the long, loosely flowing robes 

1 See page 148. 2 gee page 144. 



258 
that 



Classical Civilization 



Clothing 



contrast so sharply with our tight-fitting garments.^ 
Athenian male attire consisted of but two articles, 
the tunic and the mantle. The tunic was an un- 
dergarment of wool or linen, without sleeves. Over this was 
thrown a large woolen mantle, so wrapped about the figure as 
to leave free only the right shoulder and head. In the house a 




House of the Vettii at Pompeu (Restored) 

Notice the large area of blank wall both on the front and on the side. The front windows 
are very small and evidently of less importance for admitting light than the openings of the 
two atria. At the back is seen the large, well-lighted peristyle. 

man wore only his tunic; out of doors and on the street he 
usually wore the mantle over it. Very similar to the two main 
articles of Greek clothing were the Roman tunica and toga.^ 

On a journey or out in the country broad-brimmed hats were 
used to shield the head from the sun. In rainy weather the 
Coverings for ^lantle, pulled up over the head, furnished protec- 
the head and tion. Sandals, merely flat soles of wood or leather 
®®* fastened by thongs, were worn indoors, but even 

these were laid aside at a dinner party. Outside the house 
leather shoes of various shapes and colors were used. They 

^ See the illustrations, pages 117, 271. 

2 The corresponding names of women's garments were stola and palla. 



The Home and Private Life 



259 



cannot have been very comfortable, since stockings were not 
known in antiquity. 

The ancient house lay close to the street Hne.- The exterior 
was plain and simple to an extreme. The owner was satisfied 
if his mansion shut out the noise and dust of the Exterior of 
highway. He built it, therefore, round one or *^® ^°"s® 
more open courts, which took the place of windows supplying 




Atrium of a Pompeian House 

The view shows the atrium with the basin for rainwater; in the center, the iablinum with 
its wall paintings; and the peristyle at the rear. 

light and air. Except for the doorway the front of the house 
presented a bare, blank surface, only relieved by narrow slits or 
lattices in the wall of the upper story. The street side of the 
house wall received a coating of whitewash or of fine marble 
stucco. The roof of the house was covered with clay tiles. 
This style of domestic architecture is still common in eastern 
lands. 

In contrast with its unpretentious exterior a classical dwell- 
ing indoors had a most attractive appearance. We cannot 
exactly determine just what were the arrangments interior of 
of a Greek interior. But the better class of Roman the house 
houses, such as some of those excavated at Pompeii,^ followed 

1 See page 199. 



26o 



Classical Civilization 




The atrium 



PoMPEiAN Floor Mosaic 



Greek designs in many respects. The Pompeian remains, 
therefore, will give some idea of the sort of residence occupied 
by a well-to-do citizen of Athens or Rome. 

The visitor at one of these ancient houses first entered a 
small vestibule, from which a narrow passage led to the heavy 

oaken door. A dog 
was sometimes kept 
chained in this hallway; in Pompeii 
there is a picture of one worked in 
mosaic on the floor with the warn- 
ing beneath it, *' Beware of the 
dog." Having made known his 
presence by using the knocker, the 
guest was ushered into the recep- 
tion room, or atrium. This was a 
large apartment covered with a 
roof, except for a hole in the center 
admitting Hght and air. A marble 
basin directly underneath caught the rain water which came 
through the opening. The atrium represents the single room 
of the primitive Roman house without windows or chimney.^ 

A corridor from the atrium led into the peristyle, the second 
of the two main sections of a Roman house. It was a spacious 
court, open to the sky and inclosed by a colonnade 
or portico. This delightful spot, rather than the 
formal atrium, served as the center of family life. About it 
were grouped the bedchambers, bathrooms, dining rooms, 
kitchen, and other apartments of a comfortable mansion. 
Still other rooms occupied the upper stories of the dwelling. 

The ancient Athenian was no sluggard. At sunrise, or even 
before, he rose from his couch, washed his face and hands, put 
Business of on his scanty garments, and was soon ready for 
the forenoon ^^ street. Before leaving the house, he broke 
his fast with a meal as simple as the European "rolls and 
coffee" — in this case merely a few mouthfuls of bread dipped 
in wine. After breakfast he might call on his friends or perhaps 

1 See the illustration, page 145. 



The peristyle 



The Home and Private Life 



261 



ride into the country and visit his estates. About ten o'clock 
(which the Athenians called ''full market"), he would be 
pretty sure to find his way to the Agora. The shops at this 
time were crowded with purchasers, and every sociable citizen 
of Athens was to be found in them or in the neighboring colon- 
nades which lined the market place. 




Peristyle of a Pompeian House 

House of the Vettii, Pompeii 

The peristyle, excavated in 1894-1895 a.d., has been carefully restored. The garden, 
fountains, tables, and marble colonnades are all modem. 



The public resorts were deserted at noon, when the Athenian 
returned home to enjoy a light meal and a rest during the heat. 
As the day grew cooler, men again went out and occupations 
visited a gymnasium, such as the Lyceum or the of the after- 
Academy, in the city suburbs.^ Here were grounds 
for running, wresthng, discus-throwing, and other sports, as 
well as rooms for bathing and anointing. While the younger 
men busied themselves in such active exercises, those of 

* See page 288. 



262 Classical Civilization 

maturer years might be content with less vigorous games or 
with conversation on poUtical or philosophical themes. 

The principal meal of the day came about sunset. The 
master of the house, if he had no guests, shared the repast with 
The evening his wife and children. For a man of moderate 
meal means the ordinary fare was very much what it is 

now in Greece — bread, olives, figs, cheese, and a Httle meat 
as an occasional luxury. At the end of the meal the diners 



A Greek Banquet 

From a vase painting by Duris 

refreshed themselves with wine mixed with water. The Greeks 
appear to have been usually as temperate in their drink as they 
were frugal in their food. The remainder of the evening would 
be devoted to conversation and music and possibly a little 
reading. As a rule the Athenian went early to bed. 

A Roman of the higher class, who lived in late republican or 
early imperial times, passed through much the same daily 
Morning routine as an Athenian citizen in the days of Per- 

roundofa icles. He rose at an early hour and after a light 
Roman noble i^^eakfast dispatched his private business with the 
help of his steward and manager. He then took his place in the 
atrium to meet the crowd of poor dependents who came to pay 
their respects to their patron and to receive their usual morn- 
ing alms — either food or sufficient money to buy a modest 
dinner. Having greeted his visitors and perhaps helped them 
in legal or business matters, the noble entered his Utter and 
was carried down to the Forum. Here he might attend the law 



The Home and Private Life 



263 



noon exercise 
and bath 




courts to plead a case for himself or for his clients. If he were a 
member of the Senate, he would take part in the deliberations 
of that body. At eleven o'clock, when the ordinary duties of 
the morning were over, he would return home to eat his 
luncheon and enjoy the midday rest, or siesta. The practice of 
having a nap in the heat 
of the day became so gen- 
eral that at noon the 
streets of a Roman city 
had the same deserted 
appearance as at mid- 
night. 

After an hour of re- 
freshing sleep it was time 
fortheregu- xhe after- 
lar exercise 
out of doors 

in the Campus Martins 
or indoors at one of the 
large city baths. Then 
came one of the chief pleasures of a Roman's existence — the 
daily bath. It was taken ordinarily in one of the public 
bathing establishments, or thermce, to be found in every Ro- 
man town.^ A Roman bath was a luxurious affair. After un- 
dressing, the bathers entered a warm anteroom and sat for a 
time on benches, in order to perspire freely. This was a pre- 
caution against the danger of passing too suddenly into the hot 
bath, which was taken in a large tank of water sunk in the mid- 
dle of the floor. Then came an exhilarating cold plunge and 
anointing with perfumed oil. Afterwards the bathers rested on 
the couches with which the resort was supplied and passed the 
time in reading or conversation until the hour for dinner. 

The late dinner, with the Romans as with the Greeks, formed 
the principal meal of the day. It was usually a The late 
social function. The host and his guests reclined ^i^^r 
on couches arranged about a table. The Romans borrowed 

1 See page 285. 



A Roman Litter 

The litter consists of an ordinary couch with four 
posts and a pair of poles. Curtains fastened to the 
rod above the canopy shielded the occupant from 
observation. 



264 



Classical Civilization 



from the Greeks the custom of ending a banquet with a sym- 
posium, or drinking-bout. The tables were cleared of dishes, 
and the guests were anointed with perfumes and crowned with 
garlands. During the banquet and the symposium it was 
customary for professional performers to entertain the guests 
with music, dancing, pantomimes, and feats of jugglery. 

92. Amusements 



The Athenians celebrated many religious festivals. One of 
Athenian re- ^^^ most important was the Great Panathenaea,^ 
ligious fes- held every fourth year in the month of July. 
*^^^ ^ Athletic contests and poetical recitations, sacri- 

fices, feasts, and processions honored the goddess Athena, who 







The theater of Dionysus, where dramatic exhibitions were held, lay close to the south- 
eastern angle of the Acropolis. The audience at first sat upon wooden benches rising, tier 
after tier, on the adjacent hillside. About the middle of the fourth century B.C. these were 
replaced by the stone seats which are still to be seen. Sixteen thousand people could be 
accommodated in this open-air theater. 

presided over the Athenian city. Even more interesting, per- 
haps, were the dramatic performances held in midwinter and in 
spring, at the festivals of Dionysus. The tragedies and com- 

1 Panathenaic means "belonging to all the Athenians." See page 292. 



Amusements 



26s 




edies composed for these entertainments took their place among 
the masterpieces of Greek Hterature. 

There is very httle hkeness between the ancient and the 
modern drama. Greek plays were performed out of doors in 
the bright sunlight. Until late Roman times it Features of a 
is unhkely that a raised stage existed. The three ^'^ek play 
actors and the members of the chorus appeared together in the 
dancing ring, or orchestra. The perform- 
ers were all men. Each actor might play 
several parts. There was no elaborate scen- 
ery; the spectator had to rely chiefly on his 
own imagination for the setting of the 
piece. The actors indulged in few lively 
movements or gestures. They must have 
looked from a distance like a group of ma- 
jestic statues. All wore elaborate costumes, 
and tragic actors, in addition, were made 
to appear larger than human with masks, 
padding, and thick-soled boots, or buskins. 
The performances occupied the three days 
of the Dionysiac festivals, beginning early 
in the morning and lasting till night. 
All this time was necessary because they 
formed contests for a prize which the 
people awarded to the poet and chorus 
whose presentation was judged of highest 
excellence. 

Pantomimes formed the staple amuse- 
ment of the Roman theater, pantomime 
In these performances a single and vaude- 
dancer, by movements and ^ ® ^ °°^® 
gestures, represented mythological scenes and love stories. The 
actor took several characters in succession and a chorus accom- 
panied him with songs. There were also "vaudeville" enter- 
tainments, with all manner of jugglers, ropedancers, acrobats, 
and clowns, to amuse a people who found no pleasure in the 
refined productions of the Greek stage. 



A Dancing Girl 

A Greek bronze statu- 
ette found in a sunken 
galley off the coast of 
Tunis. The galley had 
been wrecked while on its 
way to Rome carrying a 
load of art objects to 
decorate the villas of 
wealthy nobles. This 
statuette was doubtless a 
life-like copy of some well- 
known entertainer. The 
dancer's pose suggests the 
American " Cakewalk" 
and her costume, the 
modem " hobble skirt." 



266 



Classical Civilization 



Far more popular than even pantomime and vaudeville were 

the "games of the circus." At Rome these were held chiefly 

in the Circus Maximus. Chariot races formed the 
Chariot races , . , . r ^ . 

prmcipal attraction of the circus. There were 

usually four horses to a chariot, though sometimes the drivers 




The Circus Maximus (Restoration) 

showed their skill by handhng as many as six or seven horses. 
The contestants whirled seven times around the low wall, or 
spina, which divided the race course. The shortness of the 
stretches and the sharp turns about the spina must have pre- 
vented the attainment of great speed. A race, nevertheless, 
was a most exciting sport. What we should call ''fouling" was 
permitted and even encouraged. The driver rtiight turn his 
team against another or might endeavor to upset a rival's car. 
It was a very tame contest that did not have its accompani- 
ment of broken chariots, fallen horses, and killed or injured 
drivers. 

The Circus Maximus was often used for a variety of animal 
Animal- shows. Fierce wild beasts, brought from every 

baitings quarter of the empire, were turned loose to slaugh- 

ter one another, or to tear to pieces condemned criminals.^ 
1 See page 234. 



Amusements 



267 



More popular still were the contests between savage animals 
and men. Such amusements did something to satisfy the lust 
for blood in the Roman populace — a lust which was more 
completely satisfied by the gladiatorial combats. 

Exhibitions of gladiators were known in Italy long before 
they became popular at Rome. The combats probably started 
from the savage practice of sacrificing prisoners Gladiatorial 
or slaves at the funeral of their master. Then the shows 
custom arose of allowing the victims a chance for their lives by 





Gladiators 

From a stucco relief on the tomb of Scaurus, Pompeii. Beginning at the left are two 
fully armed horsemen fighting with lances. Behind them are two gladiators, one of whom is 
appealing to the people. Then follows a combat in which the defeated party raises his hand 
in supplication for mercy. The lower part of the relief represents fights with various wild 
beasts. 



having them fight one another, the conquerors being spared 
for future battles. From this it was but a step to keeping 
trained slaves as gladiators. During the imperial epoch the 
number of such exhibitions increased greatly. The emperor 
Trajan, for example, to celebrate his victories over the Dacians,^ 
exhibited no less than ten thousand men within the space of 
four months. The gladiators belonged to various classes, 

1 See page 200. 



7\ 



268 Classical Civilization 

according to the defensive armor they wore and the style of 
fighting they employed. When a man was wounded and unable 
to continue the struggle, he might appeal to the spectators. 
He lifted his finger to plead for release; if he had fought well, 
the people indicated their wilhngness to spare him by waving 
their handkerchiefs. If the spectators were in a cruel mood, they 
turned down their thumbs as the signal for his deathblow. 
These hideous exhibitions continued in different parts of the 
Roman Empire until the fifth century of our era. 

Gladiatorial combats, chariot races, and dramatic shows were 
free performances. For the lower classes in the Roman city 
" Bread and ^^^^ became the chief pleasure of life. The days 
the games of of their celebration were public hohdays, which 

e circus. ^^ ^-^^ fourth century numbered no less than one 
hundred and seventy-five. The once-sovereign people of Rome 
became a lazy, worthless rabble, fed by the state and amused 
with the games. It was well said by an ancient satirist that the 
Romans wanted only two things to make them happy — "bread 
and the games of the circus." ^ 

93. Slavery 

The private life of the Greeks and Romans, as described in 
the preceding pages, w^ould have been impossible without the 
Place of Slav- existence of a large servile class. Slaves did much 
ery in classi- of the heavy and disagreeable work in the ancient 
world, thus allowing the free citizen to engage in 
more honorable employment or to pass his days in dignified 
leisure. 

The Greeks seem sometimes to have thought that only bar- 
barians should be degraded to the condition of servitude. Most 
Sources of Greek slaves, as a matter of fact, were purchased 
slaves irom foreign countries. But after the Romans 

had subdued the Mediterranean world, their captives included 
not only members of inferior races, but also the cultivated 
inhabitants of Greece, Egypt, and Asia Minor. We hear of 
slaves at Rome who served as clerks, secretaries, librarians, 

1 Panem et cir censes (Juvenal, x, 80-81). 



Slavery 269 

actors, and musicians. Their education was often superior to 
that of the coarse and brutal masters who owned them. 

The number of slaves, though great enough in Athens and 
other Greek cities, reached almost incredible figures during the 
later period of Roman history. Every victorious dumber and 
battle swelled the troops of captives sent to the cheapness of 
slave markets at Rome. Ordinary slaves became 
as cheap as beasts of burden are now. The Roman poet Horace 
tells us that at least ten slaves were necessary for a gentleman 
in even moderate circumstances. Wealthy individuals, given 
to excessive luxury, might number their city slaves by the hun- 
dreds, besides many more on their country estates. 

Slaves engaged in a great variety of occupations. They were 

domestic servants, farm laborers, miners, artisans, factory 

hands, and even shopkeepers. Household slaves „, 

Slaves tasks 
at Rome were employed in every conceivable way. 

Each part of a rich man's residence had its special staff of ser- 
vants. The possession of a fine troop of slaves, dressed in hand- 
some liveries, was a favorite method of showing one's wealth 
and luxury. 

It is difficult for us to realize the attitude of ancient peoples 
toward their slaves. They were regarded as part of the chattels 
of the house — as on a level with domestic animals Treatment of 
rather than human beings. Though Athenian law slaves 
forbade owners to kill their slaves or to treat them cruelly, it 
permitted the corporal punishment of slaves for slight offenses. 
At Rome, until the imperial epoch,^ no restraints whatever 
existed upon the master's power. A slave was part of his prop- 
erty with which he could do exactly as he pleased. The terrible 
punishments, the beating with scourges which followed the 
slightest misconduct or neglect of duty, the branding with a 
hot iron which a runaway slave received, the fearful penalty 
of crucifixion which followed an attempt upon the owner's 
life — all these tortures show how hard was the lot of the bond- 
man in pagan Rome. 

A ijlave, under some circumstances, could gain his freedom. 

I See page 215. 



> 



> 



270 



Classical Civilization 




A Slave's Collar 

A runaway slave, if recaptured, was sometimes com- 
pelled to wear a metal collar riveted about his neck. One 
of these collars, still preserved at Rome, bears the inscrip- 
tion: Servus sum dom{i)ni met Scholastic! v{iri) sp{ectabilis). 
Tene me nefugiam de domo. — "I am the slave of my mas- 
ter Scholasticus, a gentleman of importance. Hold me, 
lest I flee from home." 



In Greece, where many little states constantly at war bordered 
Possibilities one another, a slave could often run away to lib- 
of freedom gj-^-y j^ a great empire like Rome, where no 
boundary hnes existed, this was usually impossible. Freedom, 
however, was sometimes voluntarily granted. A master in his 

will might liberate 
his favorite slave, as 
a reward for the 
faithful service of a 
lifetime. A more 
common practice per- 
mitted the slave to 
keep a part of his 
earnings until he had 
saved enough to 
purchase his freedom. 
Slavery in Greece 
and Italy had existed from the earliest times. It never was 
Permanence more flourishing than in the great age of classical 
of slavery history. Nor did it pass away when the Roman 
world became Christian. The spread of Christianity certainly 
helped to improve the lot of the slave and to encourage his 
liberation. The Church, nevertheless, recognized slavery from 
the beginning. Not until long after ancient civilization had 
perished did the curse of slavery finally disappear from Euro- 
pean lands. ^ 

94. Greek Literature 

The literature of Greece begins with epic poetry. An epic 
may be defined as a long narrative in verse, dealing with some 
large and noble theme. The earliest epic poetry of 
the Greeks was inseparable from music. Wander- 
ing minstrels sang at feasts in the palaces of kings and accom- 
panied their lays with the music of the clear-toned lyre. In 
time, as his verse reached a more artistic character, the singer 
was able to give up the lyre and to depend for effect solely on 
the poetic power of his narrative. Finally, the scattered lays 

1 See pages 436, 463. 



Epic poetry 



Greek Literature 



271 



were combined into long poems. The most famous are the 

Iliad and the Odyssey, works which the Greeks attributed to 

Homer.^ 

Several centuries after Homer the Greeks began to create a 

new form of poetic expression — lyric poetry. In short poems, 

accompanied by the flute ^ . 

.u 1 ^\. ( A Lyric poetry 

or the lyre, they found a 

medium for the expression of personal 
feelings which was not furnished by 
the long and cumbrous epic. The 
greatest lyric poet was Pindar. We 
still possess forty-four of his odes, 
which were written in honor of victo- 
rious athletes at the Olympian and 
other national games.^ Pindar's 
verses were so popular that he be- 
came, as it were, the "poet laureate" 
of Greece. When Alexander the 
Great destroyed Thebes,^ the native 
town of Pindar, he spared that poet's 
birthplace from the general ruin. 

The three great masters of the 
tragic drama ^ lived and wrote in 
Athens during the splen- Athenian 
did half century between t^^^s^dy 
the Persian and the Peloponnesian 
wars. Such was the fertility of their 
genius that they are said to have writ- 
ten altogether nearly three hundred 
plays. Only thirty-two have come 
down to us. iEschylus, the first of the tragic poets, had fought 
at Marathon and Salamis. One of his works, the Persians, is a 
magnificent song of triumph for the victory of Hellas. Sopho- 
cles, while yet a young man, gained the prize in a dramatic 
contest with ^Eschylus. His plays mark the perfection of Greek 




Sophocles 

Lateran Museum, Rome 
This marble statue is possibly 
a copy of the bronze original 
which the Athenians set up in 
the theater of Dionysus. The 
feet and the box of manuscript 
rolls are modern restorations. 



1 See page 73. 
* See page 80. 



3 See page 120. 
^ See page 265. 



272 Classical Civilization 

tragedy. After the death of Sophocles the Athenians revered 
him as a hero and honored his memory with yearly sacrifices. 
Euripides was the third of the Athenian dramatists and the 
most generally popular. His fame reached far beyond his 
native city. We are told that the Sicilians were so fond of his 
verses that they granted freedom to every one of the Athenian 
prisoners captured at Syracuse who could recite the poet's lines. 

Athenian comedy during the fifth century B.C. is represented 
by the plays of Aristophanes. He was both a great poet and a 
Athenian great satirist. "In one comedy Aristophanes 

comedy attacks the demagogue Cleon, who was prominent 

in Athenian politics after the death of Pericles. In other come- 
dies he ridicules the philosophers, makes fun of the ordinary 
citizen's delight in sitting on jury courts and trying cases, and 
criticizes those responsible for the unfortunate expedition to 
Sicily. The plays of Aristophanes were performed before ad- 
miring audiences of thousands of citizens and hence must have 
had much influence on pubUc opinion. 

The "father of history," Herodotus, flourished about the 

middle of the fifth century B.C. Though a native of Asia Minor, 

„. Herodotus spent some of the best years of his life 

History . , . ,. . . , .„. 

at Athens, mmghng m its brilhant society and 

coming under the influences, Hterary and artistic, of that city. 
He traveled widely in the Greek world and in the East, as a 
preparation for his great task of writing an account of the rise 
of the Oriental nations and the struggle between Greece and 
Persia. Herodotus was not a critical historian, diligently sift- 
ing truth from fable. Where he can he gives us facts. Where 
facts are lacking, he tells interesting stories in a most winning 
style. A much more scientific writer was Thucydides, an 
Athenian who lived during the epoch of the Peloponnesian War 
and became the historian of that contest. An Athenian con- 
temporary of Thucydides, Xenophon, is best known from his 
Anabasis, which describes the famous expedition of the "Ten 
Thousand" Greeks against Persia.^ 

Of the later prose writers of Greece it is sufficient to name 

1 See page 121. 



Greek Philosophy 273 

only one — the immortal Plutarch. He was a native of Chse- 

ronea in Boeotia and lived during the first century 

of our era. Greece at that time was only a prov- ^ p ^ 

ince of the Roman Empire; the days of her greatness had long 

since passed away. Plutarch thus had rather a melancholy 

task in writing his Parallel Lives. In this work he relates, first 

the life of an eminent Greek, then of a famous Roman who in 

some way resembled him; and ends the account with a short 

comparison of the two men. Plutarch had a wonderful gift of 

sympathy for his heroes and a keen eye for what was dramatic 

in their careers. It is not surprising, therefore, that Plutarch 

has always been a favorite author. No other ancient writer 

gives us so vivid and intimate a picture of the classical world. 

From the foregoing survey it is clear that the Greeks were 

pioneers in many forms of Uterature. They first composed 

artistic epic poems. They invented lyric and dra- originality of 

matic poetry. They were the first to write his- Greek litera- 

tories and biographies. In oratory, as has been *"^® 

seen, they also rose to eminence.^ We shall now find that the 

Greek intellect was no less fertile and original in the study of 

philosophy. 

95. Greek Philosophy 

The Greek philosophy took its rise in the seventh century 
B.C., when a few bold students began to search out the myster- 
ies of the universe. Their theories were so many 
and so contradictory, however, that after a time 
philosophers gave up the study of nature and proposed in turn 
to study man himself. These later thinkers were called soph- 
ists. They traveled throughout Greece, gathering the young 
men about them and lecturing for pay on subjects of practical 
interest. Among other things they taught the rhetoric and ora- 
tory which were needed for success in a public career. 

One of the founders of Greek philosophy and the greatest 
teacher of his age was Socrates the Athenian. 
He lived and taught during the period of the 
Peloponnesian War. Socrates resembled the sophists in his 

1 See page 117. 



274 



Classical Civilization 



possession of an inquiring, skeptical mind which questioned 

every common beUef and superstition. But he went beyond 

the sophists in his emphasis on problems of every-day morality. 

Though Socrates wrote nothing, his teaching and personality 

made a deep impression on his 
contemporaries. The Delphic 
oracle declared that no one in 
the world was wiser than Soc- 
rates. Yet he lived through a 
long life at Athens, a poor man 
who would neither work at his 
trade of sculptor, nor (as did 
the sophists) accept money for 
his instruction. He walked the 
streets, barefoot and half-clad, 
and engaged in animated con- 
versation with anyone who was 
willing to discuss intellectual 
subjects with him. Socrates 
must have been a familiar fig- 
ure to the Athenians. His short 
body, large, bald head, and 
homely features hardly presented the ideal of a philosopher. 
Even Aristophanes in a comedy laughs at him. 

Late in life Socrates was accused of impiety and of corrupt- 
ing the youth of Athens with his doctrines. As a matter of 
Condemnation ^^^^ ^^ ^^^^ ^ deeply religious man. If he objected 
and death to the crude mythology of Homer, he often spoke 
o ocrates ^^ ^^^ q^^^ ^^^ ruled the world, and of a divine 
spirit or conscience within his own breast. A jury court found 
him guilty, however, and condemned him to death. He refused 
to escape from prison when opportunity offered and passed his 
last days in eager conversation on the immortality of the soul. 
When the hour of departure arrived, he bade his disciples 
farewell and calmly drained the cup of hemlock, a poison that 
caused a painless death. Although Socrates gave his life for 
his philosophy, this did not perish with him. 




Socrates 

V^atican Gallery, Rome 



Greek Philosophy 275 

One of the members of the Socratic circle was Plato, a wealthy 
noble who abandoned a pubHc career for the attractions of 
philosophy. After the death of Socrates, Plato 
traveled widely in the Greek world and even 
visited Egypt, where he interviewed the learned priests. On 
his return to Athens Plato began teaching in the garden and 
gymnasium called the Academy.^ His writings, known as 
Dialogues, are cast in the form of question and answer that 
Socrates had used. In most of them Plato makes Socrates the 
chief speaker. Plato's works are both profound in thought and 
admirable in style. The Athenians used to say that if Zeus had 
spoken Greek he would have spoken it as did Plato. 

As great a philosopher as Plato, but a far less attractive 

writer, was Aristotle. He was not an Athenian by birth, but 

he passed many years in Athens, first as a pupil of 

T.1 , 1 1 1 , . 1 ... 1,, r 1 V , Aristotle 

Plato, who called him the mmd of the school, 

and then as a teacher in the Athenian city. Aristotle seems to 

have taken all knowledge for his province. He investigated the 

ideas underlying the arts of rhetoric and poetry; he gathered 

the constitutions of many Greek states and drew from them 

some general principles of poHtics; he studied collections of 

strange plants and animals to learn their structure and habits; 

he examined the acts and beliefs of men in order to write books 

on ethics. In all this investigation Aristotle was not content to 

accept what previous men had written or to spin a pleasing 

theory out of his own brain. Everywhere he sought for facts; 

everything he tried to bring to the test of personal observation. 

Aristotle, then, was as much a scientist as a philosopher. His 

books were reverently studied for centuries after his death and 

are still used in our universities. 

The system of philosophy called Epicureanism was founded 

by a Greek named Epicurus. He taught in Athens during the 

earlier part of the third century B.C. Epicurus „ . 

1 T , 1 1 . 1 1 1-1 Epicureanism 

believed that pleasure is the sole good, pain, the 

sole evil. He meant by pleasure not so much the passing enjoy- 
ments of the hour as the permanent happiness of a hfetime. In 

1 See page 261. 



276 Classical Civilization 

order to be happy men should not trouble themselves with use- 
less luxuries, but should lead the "simple life." They must be 
virtuous, for virtue will bring more real satisfaction than vice. 
Above all, men ought to free themselves from idle hopes and 
fears about a future existence. The belief in the immortality 
of the soul, said Epicurus, is only a delusion, for both soul and 
body are material things which death dissolves into the atoms 
making up the universe. And if there are any gods, he 
declared, they do not concern themselves with human affairs. 
Some of the followers of Epicurus seemed to find in his philo- 
sophic system justification for free indulgence in every appetite 
and passion. Even to-day, when we call a person an ''Epicu- 
rean," we think of him as a selfish pleasure seeker. 

The noblest of all pagan philosophies was Stoicism, founded 
by Zeno, a contemporary of Epicurus. Virtue, said the Stoic, 
consists in living "according to nature," that is, 
according to the Universal Reason or Divine Prov- 
idence that rules the world. The followers of this philosophy 
tried, therefore, to ignore the feelings and exalt the reason as a 
guide to conduct. They practiced self-denial, despised the 
pomps and vanities of the world, and sought to rise above such 
emotions as grief, fear, hope, and joy. The doctrines of Stoi- 
cism gained many adherents among the Romans ^ and through 
them became a real moral force in the ancient world. Stoicism 
is even now no outworn creed. Our very word "stoical" is a 
synonym for calm indifference to pleasure or to pain. 

96. Roman Literature 

The beginnings of Roman literature go back to the third 
century B.C., when some knowledge of the Greek language 
Rise of Ro- became increasingly common in Rome. The 
man litera- earlier writers — chiefly poets and dramatists — 
"^® did little original work, and usually were content 

to translate and adapt the productions of Greek authors for 
Roman audiences. During this period the Romans gradually 
discovered the capabiUties of their language for prose com^osi- 

1 See page 226. 



Roman Literature 277 

tion. The republican institutions of Rome, like those of 

Athens, were highly favorable to the art of public speaking. 

It was the development of oratory which did most to mold the 

Latin language into fitness for the varied forms of prose. 

Cicero, the greatest of Roman orators, created a style for 

Latin prose composition which has been admired and imitated 

by men of letters even to our own day. Latin, in 

. . Cicero 

his hands, became a magnificent instrument for the 

expression of human thought. Cicei-o's quahties as an author 
are shown, not only by his Orations, but also by the numerous 
Epistles which he wrote to friends and correspondents in all 
parts of the Roman world. Besides their historical interest 
Cicero's letters are models of what good letters ought to be — 
the expression of the writer's real thoughts and feelings in sim- 
ple, unstilted language. Cicero also composed a number of 
Dialogues, chiefly on philosophical themes. If not very pro- 
found, they are delightfully written, and long served as text- 
books in the schools. 

Another eminent statesman — Julius Caesar — won success 
in literature. As an orator he was admitted by his contempo- 
raries to stand second to Cicero. None of his ^ 

Caesar 
speeches have survived. We possess, however, 

his invaluable Commentaries on the Gallic and Civil wars. 
These works, though brief and in most parts rather dull, are 
highly praised for their simple, concise style and their mastery 
of the* art of rapid narration. 

The half century included within the Augustan Age marks 
a real epoch in the history of Latin literature. The most fa- 
mous poet of this period was Vergil. The Mneid, vergU and 
which he undertook at the suggestion of Augustus, Horace 
is his best-known work. In form the poem is a narrative of 
the adventures of the Trojan hero, iEneas,^ but its real theme is 
the growth of Rome under the fostering care of the gods. The 
Mneid, though unfinished at the author's death, became at once 
what it has always remained — the only ancient epic worthy 
of comparison with the Iliad or with the Odyssey. Another 

1 See page 142. 



278 Classical Civilization 

member of the Augustan circle was Vergil's friend and fellow- 
worker, Horace. An imitative poet, Horace reproduced in 
Latin verse the forms, and sometimes even the substance, of 
his Greek models. But, like Vergil, what Horace borrowed he 
made his own by the added beauty which he gave to it. His 
Odes are perhaps the most admirable examples of literary art 
to be found in any language. 

The most famous prose writer of the Augustan Age was Livy. 

His History of Rome, beginning with Romulus and extending 

to Augustus, traced the rise and growth of the 

Roman state during eight centuries of triumphal 

progress. It did in prose what Vergil's Mneid had done in verse. 

The period of the ''Good Emperors" saw the rise of several 

important authors, of whom one, the historian Tacitus, was a 

man of genius. The crowning labor of his life 

was a history of Rome from Tiberius to Domitian. 

Of this work, issued under the two titles of Histories and 

Annals, only about one-half is extant. 

Less than two hundred years separate Cicero and Tacitus. 
During this period Latin authors, writing under the influence 
Survival of ^^ ^^^ Greece, accomplished much valuable work. 
Roman Some of their productions are scarcely inferior to 

literature ^j^^ Greek masterpieces. In later centuries, when 

Greek literature was either neglected or forgotten in the West, 
the hterature of Rome was still read and enjoyed. Even to-day 
a knowledge of it forms an essential part of a "classical" 

education. 

97. Greek Architecture 

The existing monuments of Greek architecture — chiefly 
ruined temples — afford some idea of its leading characteristics. 
Characteris- ^^^ building materials were limestone and white 
tics of Greek marble. The blocks of stone were not bound 
architecture together by cement, but by metal clamps which 
held them in a firm grip. It was usual to color the ornamental 
parts of a temple and the open spaces that served as a back- 
ground for sculpture. The Greeks did not employ the principle 
of the arch, in order to cover large spaces with a vaulted ceil- 



Greek Architecture 



279 



ing. Their temples and other public buildings had only flat 
ceilings, resting on long rows of columns. The column probably 
developed from the wooden post or tree trunk used in timber 
construction. The capital at the top of the column originated 
in the square wooden slab which supported the heavy beam of 
the roof. 



Architrave 




Cornice 



Stylohate 







Stylohate 



Corner of a Doric 

FAgADE 



Corner of an 
Ionic Facade 



The two Greek orders of architecture, Doric and lonic,^ are 
distinguished mainly by differences in the treatment of the col- 
umn. The Doric column has no base of its own. The Doric 
The sturdy shaft is grooved lengthwise with some colu^^n 
twenty flutings. The capital is a circular band of stone capped 

1 The so-called Corinthian order differs from the Ionic only in its capital. 



28o 



Classical Civilization 



by a square block, all without decoration. The mainland of 
Greece was the especial home of the Doric order. This was 
also the characteristic style of southern Italy and Sicily. 

The Ionic column rests upon a base. Its shaft is tall and 
slender. The beautifully carved capital swells outward into 
The Ionic two spiral roUs, the ends of which are curled under 
column iQ forjn the ''volutes." The Ionic order flourished 

particularly in Asia Minor. It was well known, too, at Athens. 






a. Corinthian 



b. Composite 
Capitals 



c. Tuscan 



The highly decorative Corinthian capital, modeled on acanthus leaves, came into fashion 
in Alexandrian and Roman times. The Composite capital, as its name indicates, combined 
details from the Ionic and Corinthian into one ornate whole. This and the plain Tuscan 
capital were quite generally employed by the Romans. 

The temple formed the chief structure in a Greek city. It 
was very simple in outline — merely a rectangular building 
Nature of the provided with doors, but without windows. 
Greek temple Around it was a single or a double row of columns. 
Above them rose the architrave, a plain band of massive stones 
which reached from one column to another. Then came the 
frieze, adorned with sculptured reliefs, then the horizontal 
cornice, and at the ends of the building the triangular pedi- 
ments formed by the sloping roof. The pediments were 
sometimes decorated with statues. Since the temple was not 
intended to hold a congregation of worshipers, but only to 
contain the image of the god, the interior usually had little 
ornamentation. 

Greek temples were not very large, for hugeness was no 
object to the builders. They were not even lavishly decorated. 




ReSIOIvIATION 




^S^J^^Sm. . 4 '"' 



Present Condition 



THE PARTHENON 

After serving as a temple for about nine centuries, the Parthenon was turned into a Christian 
church, and later into a Mohammedan mosque. In 1687 a.d. the Venetians bombarded Athens 
and sent a shell into the center of the building, which the Turks had used as a powder maga- 
zine. The result was an explosion that threw down the side walls and many of the columns. 





Figures from the Pediment of the Parthenon 

'^^'!^ Aft- «BF 



Groups from the Parthenon Frieze 







corjier of the parthenon 
(Restored) 



Caryatid Porch of the 
Erechtheum 



Greek Sculpture 281 

Their beauty lies, most of all, in their harmonious proportions 
and perfect symmetry. In the best examples of uniqueness 
the Greek temple there are, for instance, no of the Greek 
straight lines. The columns are not set at equal *®°^^ ® 
intervals, but closer together near the corners of the building. 
The shafts of the columns, instead of tapering upward at a 
uniform rate, swell slightly toward the center. The artistic 
eyes of the Greeks delighted in such subtle curves. These 
characteristics make a classical temple unique of its kind.^ 

98. Greek Sculpture 

The greatest achievement of the Greeks in art was their 
sculpture. Roman artists surpassed them in the r^^ie Greek 
creation of massive architectural works; modern genius in 
artists have surpassed them in painting. In ^^" ^ "'® 
sculpture the Greeks still remain unexcelled. 

The existing remains of Greek sculpture are very scanty. 
The statues of gold and ivory vanished long ago. The bronze 
statues, formerly numbered by thousands, have Loss of the 
nearly all gone into the melting pot. Sculptures inasterpieces 
in marble were turned into mortar or used as building mate- 
rials. Those which escaped such a fate were often ruined by 
wanton mutilation and centuries of neglect. The statues 
which we still possess are mainly marble copies, made in Roman 
times from Greek originals. It is as if the paintings by the old 
masters of Europe, four centuries ago, were now known only in 
the reproductions by modern artists of inferior powers. 

The Greek sculptor worked with a variety of materials. 
Wood was in common use during primitive times. Terra cotta 
was employed at all periods for statuettes a few 
inches in height. Productions in gold and ivory, 
from the costliness of these objects, were extremely rare. Bronze 
was the favorite material of some of the most eminent artists. 
The Greek sculptor especially relied on the beautiful marbles 
in which his country abounded. 

The methods employed by the ancient sculptor differed in 

1 For illustrations of Greek temples, see pages 89, loi. 



282 Classical Civilization 

some respects from those followed by his modern successors. A 
Technical Greek marble statue was usually built up out of 
processes several parts. The joining was accomplished with 

such skill as to escape ordinary observation. The preliminary 
work of hewing out from the rough w^as done by means of 
chisels. The surface of the marble afterwards received a careful 
polishing with the file, and also with sand. Marble statues 
were always more or less painted. The coloring seems to have 
been done sparingly, being applied, as a rule, only to the 
features and draperies. Still, it is worth while to remember 
that the pure white statues of modern sculptors would not 
have satisfied Greek artists of the classical age. 

Greek sculpture existed in the two forms of bas-reliefs and 
statuary in the round. Reliefs were chiefly used for temple 
Varieties pediments and friezes, and also for the many 

of Greek grave monuments. Statues consisted of the images 

^^ ^ ^ of the gods set up in their shrines, the sculptures 

dedicated as offerings to divinities, and the figures of statesmen, 
generals, and victorious athletes raised in public places and 
sanctuaries. 

This list will show how many were the opportunities which 
the ancient sculptor enjoyed. The service of religion created a 
Importance Constant demand for his genius. The numerous 
of the sculp- athletic contests and the daily sports of the gym- 
°^ ^ ^^ nasium gave him a chance to study living models 

in the handsome, finely-shaped bodies of the contestants. 
With such inspiration it is not remarkable that sculpture 
reached so high a development in ancient Greece.^ 

99. Roman Architecture and Sculpture 

In architecture the Romans achieved preeminence. The 
The arch and temples and Other public works of Greece seem 
dome in Ro- almost insignificant beside the stupendous edifices 
man u mgs j-^^jgg^^ ^y ;Roman genius in every province of the 
empire. The ability of the Romans to build on so large a 

1 For illustrations of Greek statues see pages 80, 81, 103, 117, 119, 129, 271, 
and the plates facing pages 76, 77, 80, 130, 131. 



Roman Architecture and Sculpture 283 

scale arose from their use of vaulted constructions. Knowledge 
of the round arch passed over from the Orient to the Etruscans 
and from them to the Romans.^ At first the arch was employed 
mainly for gates, drainage sewers, aqueducts, and bridges. 
In imperial times this device was adopted to permit the con- 
struction of vast buildings with overarching domes. The 
principle of the dome has inspired some of the finest creations 
of ancient and modern architecture. 

The Romans for many of their buildings made much use of 
concrete. Its chief ingredient was pozzolaita, a sand found in 
great abundance near Rome and other sites. Roman use of 
When mixed with lime, it formed a very strong concrete and 
cement. This material was poured in a fluid state ^" ® 
into timber casings, where it quickly set and hardened. Small 
pieces of stone, called rubble, were also forced down into 
the cement to give it additional stability. Buildings of this 
sort were usually faced with brick, which in turn might be 
covered with thin slabs of marble, thus producing an attractive 
appearance. 

The triumphs of Roman architecture were not confined 
chiefly to sacred edifices. Roman temples, indeed, are mostly 
copies from the Greek. In comparison with their 
originals, they lack grace and refinement. There 
is less accuracy in the masonry fitting and far less careful atten- 
tion to details of construction. A frequent departure from 
Greek models is found in the restriction of the rows of pillars to 
the front'of the building, while the sides and rear are lined with 
''engaged" columns to give the idea of a colonnade.^ More 
characteristically Roman are vaulted temples, such as the 
Pantheon,^ where the circular dome is faced with a Greek 
portico. 

Roman basilicas, of which only the ruins are now in exist- 
ence, were once found in every city. These were 
large, lofty buildings for the use of judges and 
merchants. The chieT feature of a basihca was the spacious 

^ See pages 6i, 138. ^ See the illustration, page 202. 

'^ See the illustration, page 215. 



284 



Classical Civilization 



central hall flanked by a single or double row of columns, form- 
ing aisles and supporting the flat roof. At one end of the hall 

was a semicircular recess 
— the apse — where the 
judges held court. This 
arrangement of the inte- 
rior bears a close resem- 
blance to the plan of the 
early Christian church 
with its nave, choir (or 
chancel) , and columned 
aisles. The Christians, in 
fact, seem to have taken the familiar basilicas as the models 
for their places of worship. 



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Plan of the Ulpian Bashlica 

The hall measured 360 feet in length and 180 feet 
in width 





Interior View of the Ulpian Basilica (Restoration) 

Built by the Emperor Trajan in connection with his Forum at Rome 



Aqueducts 



Perhaps the most imposing, and certainly among the most 
useful, of Roman structures were aqueducts.^ 
There were sixty-eight in Italy and the provinces. 
No less than fourteen supplied the capital city with water. 

1 See the illustrations, pages 157, 285. 



Roman Architecture and Sculpture 



285 



The aqueducts usually ran under the surface of the ground, as 
do our water pipes. They were carried on arches only across 
depressions and valleys. The Claudian aqueduct ran for 
thirty-six miles underground and for nine and a half miles on 
arches. Though these monuments were intended simply as en- 
gineering works, their heavy masses of rough masonry produce 
an inspiring sense of power. 










A Roman Aqueduct 

The Pont du Gard near Nimes (ancient Nemausus) in southern France. Built by the 
emperor Antoninus Pius. The bridge spans two hilltops nearly a thousand feet apart. It 
carries an aqueduct with three tiers of massive stone arches at a height of 160 feet above the 
stream. This is the finest and best -preserved aqueduct in existence. 

The abundant water supply furnished by the aqueducts was 
connected with a system of great public baths, or thermce} 
Scarcely a town or village throughout the empire 
lacked one or more such buildings. Those at 
Rome were constructed on a scale of magnificence of which we 
can form but a slight conception from the ruins now in exist- 
ence. In addition to many elaborate arrangements for the 
bathers, the thermce. included lounging and reading rooms, 
libraries, gymnasia, and even museums and galleries of art. 

1 See page 263. 



Thermae 



286 



Classical Civilization 




^1 



? ? r 






iff! 



-iillllMf®J^^ 






Exterior 




•P7 ^/ 






^ r r r , 1 1 -' 






-=-;.rf^' 



The Colosseum 

The baths, indeed, were splendid clubhouses, open at little or 

no expense to every citizen of the metropolis. 

A very characteristic example of Roman building is found in 

the triumphal arches.^ Their sides were adorned 
Triumphal ^ , . , . , , • • i 

arches and with bas-reUefs, which pictured the principal scenes 

columns ^£ ^ successful campaign. Memorial structures, 

called columns of victory ,2 were also set up in Rome and other 

I See the illustration, page 236. ^ See the illustrations, pages 163, 201. 



Roman Architecture and Sculpture 287 




cities. Both arch and column have been frequently imitated 
by modern architects. 

The palaces of Roman emperors and nobles, together with their 
luxurious country houses, or villas, have all disappeared. A like 
fate has befallen the enor- circuses 
mous circuses, such as the theaters, and 
Circus Maximusi at Rome ^^^P^^heaters 
and the Hippodrome ^ at Constantino- 
ple. The Roman theaters that still 
survive reproduce, in most respects, the 
familiar outlines of the Greek struc- 
tures. In the amphitheaters, where 
animal shows and gladiatorial combats 
were exhibited, we have a genuinely 
Roman invention. The gigantic edi- 
fice, called the Colosseum, in its way 
as truly typifies Roman architectural 
genius as the Parthenon represents at 
its best that of the Greeks. 

Roman sculpture owed much to 
Greek models. However, the portrait 

statues and bas-reliefs show originality and illustrate the ten- 
dency of the Romans toward realism in art. The Roman 
sculptor tried to represent an historic person as he sculpture 
really looked or an historic event, for example, a battle or a 
triumphal procession, as it actually happened. The portrait 
statues of Roman emperors and the bas-reliefs from the arch 
of Titus impress us at once with a sense of their reality. 

Our knowledge of Roman painting is almost wholly confined 
to the wall paintings found at Rome, Herculaneum, and Pom- 
peii. What has survived is apparently the work Wailpaint- 
of ordinary craftsmen, who, if not Greeks, were "^^s 
deeply affected by the Greek spirit. Most of the scenes they 
depict are taken from classical mythology. The coloring is 
very rich; and the peculiar shade of red used is known to-day by 
the name of ''Pompeian red." The practice of mural painting 

1 See the illustration, page 266. 2 See the illustration, page 339. 



A Roman Cameo 

Portrait of a youth cut in 
sardonyx. Probably of the first 
century a.d. 



288 Classical Civilization 

passed over from the Romans to European artists, who 

have employed it in the frescoes of medieval and modern 

churches. 

100. Artistic Athens 

Athens and Rome were the artistic centers of the classical 
world. Architects, sculptors, and painters lavished their finest 
Art centers of efforts on the adornment of these two capitals. 
antiquity Here there are still to be seen some of the most 

beautiful and impressive monumments of antiquity. 

Athens lies in the center of the Attic plain, about four miles 
from the sea.^ The city commands a magnificent view^ of 
R ads and purple-hued mountains and the shining waters 
suburbs of of the ^Egean. Roads approached the ancient 
Athens ^-^^ irom all parts of Attica. Among these were 

the highway from Piraeus, running between the Long Walls,^ 
and the Sacred Way from Eleusis, where the famous mysteries 
were yearly celebrated.^ The suburbs of Athens included the 
Outer Ceramicus, part of which was used as a national ceme- 
tery, and a pleasure ground and gymnasium on the banks of 
the Cephissus, called the Academy. Another resort, known as 
the Lyceum, bordered the httle stream of the Ihssus. 

The traveler who passed through these suburbs came at 
length to the great wall, nearly five miles in circumference, 
Walls of raised by Themistocles to surround the settle- 

Athens jnent at the foot of the AcropoHs.^ The area 

included within this wall made up Old Athens. About sLx cen- 
turies after Themistocles the Roman emperor Hadrian, by 
building additional fortifications on the east, brought an exten- 
sive quarter, called New Athens, inside the city limits. 

The region within the walls was broken up by a number of 
rocky eminences which have a prominent place in the topogra- 
Hiiis of phy oi Athens. Near the center the Acropolis 

Athens j-^ggg more than two hundred feet above the plain, its 

summit crowned with monuments of the Periclean Age. Not 
far away is the hill called the Areopagus. Here the Council of 

1 See the map, page 107. ^ See page 227. 

2 See page 108. ■* See page 100. 



Artistic Athens 



289 




290 Classical Civilization 

the Areopagus, a court of justice in trials for murder, held its 
deliberations in the open air. Beyond this height is the hill of 
the Pnyx. This was the meeting place of the Athenian Assembly 
until the fourth century B.C., when the sessions were transferred 
to the theater of Dionysus. 

The business and social center of an ancient city was the 
agora or market place. The Athenian Agora lay in the hollow 
north of the Areopagus and Acropolis. The 
square was shaded by rows of plane trees and lined 
with covered colonnades. In the great days of the city, when 
the Agora was filled with countless altars and shrines, it pre- 
sented a most varied and attractive scene. 

Not all the splendid structures in Athens were confined to the 
Agora and the Acropolis. On a slight eminence not far from 
Public the Agora, rose the so-called ''Theseum," ^ a marble 

buildings temple in the Doric order. Another famous tem- 

ple, the colossal edifice known as the Olympieum, lay at some 
distance from the Acropolis on the southeast. Fifteen of the lofty 
columns wdth their Corinthian capitals are still standing. The 
theater of Dionysus ^ is in a fair state of preservation. Beyond 
this are the remains of the Odeum, or "Hall of Song," used for 
musical contests and declamations. The original building was 
raised by Pericles, in imitation, it is said, of the tent of Xerxes. 
The present ruins are those of the structure erected in the second 
century a.d. by a public-spirited benefactor of Athens. 

The adornment of the Acropolis formed perhaps the most 
memorable achievement of Pericles.^ This rocky mount was 
The approached on the western side by a flight of sixty 

Acropolis marble steps. To the right of the stairway rose 

a small but very beautiful Ionic temple dedicated to Athena. 
Having mounted the steps, the visitor passed through the su- 
perb entrance gate, or Propylaea, which was constructed to 
resemble the front of a temple with columns and pediment. 
Just beyond the Propylaea stood a great bronze statue of the 
Guardian Athena, a masterpiece of the sculptor Phidias. 

» See the illustration, page loi. » See page 108. 

2 See the illustration, page 264. 



Artistic Athens 



291 



Architecture 
of the 
Parthenon 




Plan of the Parthenon 

The larger room (cella) measured exactly one 
hundred feet in length. 



The Erechtheum, a temple which occupies part of the Acrop- 
oHs, is in the Ionic style. It may be regarded as the best exist- 
ing example of this light and graceful order. The Erech- 
Perhaps the most interesting feature is the porch tlieum 
of the Caryatides, with a marble roof supported by six pillars 
carved in the semblance of maidens.^ This curious but strik- 
ing device has been often copied by modern architects. 

The other temple on the Acropolis is the world-famed edifice 
known as the Parthenon, 
the shrine of 
the Virgin 
Athena.^ 

The Parthenon illustrates 
the extreme simpHcity of 
a Greek temple. It had 
no great size or height and 
included only two cham- 
bers. The rear room 
stored sacred vessels and furniture used in worship, state treas- 
ure, and the more valuable offerings intrusted to the goddess for 
safekeeping. The second and larger room confairied a colossal 
gold and ivory statue of Athena, the work of Phidias. It faced 
the eastern entrance so that it might be bathed in the rays of 
the rising sun. Apart from the large doors a certain amount of 
light reached the interior through the semi-transparent marble 
tiles of the roof. The Doric columns surrounding the building 
are marvels of fine workmanship. The Parthenon, because of 
its perfection of construction and admirable proportions, is 
justly regarded as a masterpiece of architecture. 

The Parthenon was also remarkable for its sculptures ^ 
executed under the superintendence of Phidias. The subjects 
of the pediment sculptures are taken from the sculptures of 
mythic history of Athena. The frieze of the Par- the Parthe- 
thenon consists of a series of sculptured slabs, °°^ 
over five hundred feet in length. The subject was the proces- 



1 See the plate facing page 281. 

2 See the plate facing page 280. 



^ See the plate facing page 281. 



292 Classical Civilization 

sion of the Great Panathenaea/ the principal festival in honor 
of Athena. At this time the sacred robe of the goddess, woven 
anew for each occasion, was brought to adorn her statue. The 
procession is thought of as starting from the western front, 
where Athenian youths dash forward on their spirited steeds. 
Then comes a brilUant array of maidens, matrons, soldiers, and 
luteplayers. Near the center of the eastern front they meet a 
group of divinities, who are represented as spectators of the 
imposing scene. This part of the frieze is still in excellent con- 
dition. 

It was, indeed, a splendid group of buildings that rose on the 
Acropolis height. If to-day they have lost much of their glory, 
The glory we can Still understand how they were the precious 
of Athens possession of the Athenians and the wonder of 
all the ancient world. ''O shining, violet-crowned city of song, 
great Athens, bulwark of Hellas, walls divine! " The words are 
those of an old Greek poet,^ but they are reechoed by all who 
have come under the magic spell of the literature and art of the 
Athenian city. 

101. Artistic Rome 

The monuments of Rome, unlike those of Athens, cannot lay 
claim to great antiquity. The destruction wrought by the 
Destruction Gauls in 390 B.C. and the great fire under Nero in 
of ancient 64 A.D. removed nearly all traces of the regal and 
°™® republican city. Many buildings erected in the 

imperial age have also disappeared, because in medieval and 
modern times the inhabitants of Rome used the ancient edi- 
fices as quarries. The existing monuments give only a faint 
idea of the former magnificence of the capital city. 

The city of Rome lies on the Tiber. Where the river ap- 
proaches Rome it makes two sharp turns, first to the west and 
HUls of then to the east. On the western, or Etruscan, 

Rome bank stood the two hills called Vatican and Janic- 

ulum. They were higher than the famous seven which rose 
on the eastern side, where the ancient city was built. Two of 

^ See page 264. 2 Pindar, Fragments, 76. 



Artistic Rome 



293 




294 Classical Civilization 

these seven hills possess particular interest. The earliest settle- 
ment, as we have seen,^ probably occupied the Palatine. It 
became in later days the favorite site for the town houses of 
Roman nobles. In the imperial age the splendid palaces of the 
Caesars were located here. The Capitoline, steepest of the 
seven hills, was divided into two peaks. On one of these rose 
the most famous of all Roman temples, dedicated to Jupiter and 
his companion deities, Juno and Minerva. The other peak was 
occupied by a large temple of Juno Moneta ("the Adviser"), 
which served as the mint. The altars, shrines, and statues which 
once covered this height were so numerous that the Capitoline, 
like the Athenian Acropohs, became a museum of art. 

Rome in early times was surrounded by a wall which bore the 
name of its legendary builder, Servius Tullius. The present 
Walls and fortifications were not constructed until the reign 
open spaces Qf ^j^g emperor Aurelian.^ The ancient city was 
closely built up, with only two great open spaces, in addition 
to the Forum. These were the Circus Maximus, in the hollow 
between the Palatine Mount and the Aventine, and the Campus 
Martins, stretching along the Tiber to the northwest of the 
Capitoline Hill. 

Following the map of ancient Rome under the empire we 
may note the more important monuments which still exist in 
Public something like their original condition. Across 

buUdings ^-jig Tiber and beyond the Campus Martins stands 

the mausoleum of Hadrian.^ The most notable structure in the 
Campus Martins is the Pantheon.^ It is the one ancient build- 
ing in the entire Roman world which still survives, inside and 
out, in a fair state of preservation. The depression between the 
Caelian and Esquiline hills contains the Flavian Amphitheater, 
better known as the Colosseum.^ It was begun by Vespasian 
and probably completed by Titus. No less than eighty 
entrances admitted the forty-five thousand spectators who 
could be accommodated in this huge structure. Despite the 

1 See page 140. * See the illustration, page 202. 

2 See the illustration, page 220. ^ See the illustration, page 286. 

3 See the illustration, page 203. 



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Artistic Rome 295 

enormous mass of the present ruins probably two-thirds of the 
original materials have been carried away to be used in other 
buildings. Close to the Colosseum stands the arch ^ erected by 
the Senate in honor of the victory of Constantine over his rival 
Maxentius. From this event is dated the triumph of Chris- 
tianity in the Roman state. The ruins of the huge baths of 
Caracalla lie about half a mile from the Colosseum. N"ear the 
center of the city are the remains of the Forum added by Tra- 
jan to the accommodations of the original Forum. It contains 
the column of Trajan ^ under which that emperor was buried. 

The Forum lies in the valley north of the Palatine Hill. It 
was the business and social center of the Roman city. During 

the Middle Asres the site was buried in ruins ^, „ 

The Forum 
and rubbish, in some places to a depth of forty 

feet or more. Recent excavations have restored the ancient 

level and uncovered the remains of the ancient structures. 

The Forum could be approached from the east by one of the 
most famous streets in the world, the Roman Sacred Way. 
The illustration of the Forum at the present Approach to • 
time gives a view, looking eastward from the Cap- *^® Forum 
itoline Mount, and shows several of the buildings on or near 
the Sacred Way. At the left are seen the ruins of the basilica 
of Constantine. Farther in the distance the Colosseum looms 
up. Directly ahead is the arch of Titus, which commemorates 
the capture of Jerusalem in 70 a.d.^ The ruins of the palaces 
of the Caesars occupy the slopes of the Palatine. 

The only well-preserved monument in the Forum is the beau- 
tiful arch erected by the emperor Septimius Severus. Beyond 
it are three columns which once formed part of The Forum 
the temple of Castor. They date from the time of to-day 
Tiberius. In front are the foundations of the Basilica Julia, 
built by Augustus. Next come eight Ionic columns, all that 
remain of the temple of Saturn. Near it and in the foreground 
are several columns in the Corinthian style, belonging to a 
temple built by Vespasian. 

^ See the illustration, page 236. ^ See the plate facing page 198. 

* See the illustration, page 201. 



296 Classical Civilization 

These ruined monuments, these empty foundations and 
lonely pillars, afford little idea of all the wealth of architecture 
The Forum that once adorned this spot. Here stood the 
m antiquity circular shrine of Vesta,^ guarding the altar and 
its ever-blazing fire. Here was the temple of Concord, famous 
in Roman history .2 The Senate-house was here, and just be- 
fore it, the Rostra, a platform adorned with the beaks (rostra) 
of captured ships. From this place Roman orators addressed 
their assembled fellow-citizens. 

How splendid a scene must have greeted an observer in an- 
cient times who, from the height of the Capitol, gazed at the 
The grandeur city before him. The Forum w^as then one radiant 
of Rome avenue of temples, triumphal arches, columns, and 

shrines. And beyond the Forum stretched a magnificent array 
of theaters and amphitheaters, enormous baths, colossal sepul- 
chers, and statues in stone and bronze. So prodigious an 
accumulation of objects beautiful, costly, and rare has never 
before or since been found on earth. 

Studies 

I. What is the origin of our words pedagogue, symposium, circus, and 
academy? 2. Make a Ustof such Roman names as you have met in your reading. 
3. Write a letter describing an imaginary visit to the theater of Dionysus during 
the performance of a tragedy. 4. What did civic patriotism mean to the Greek and 
to the Roman? 5. Have we anything to learn from the Greeks about the im- 
portance of training in music? 6. What were the schoolbooks of Greek boys? 

7. What features of Athenian education are noted in the illustration, page 254? 

8. How did the position of women at Athens differ from their position in Homeric 
Greece? 9. Why does classical literature contain almost no "love stories," or 
novels? 10. What contrasts exist between the ancient and the modern house? 
II. Describe a Roman Utter (illustration, page 263). 12. What differences exist 
between an ancient and a modern theatre? 13. What features of our "circus" 
recall the proceedings at the Roman games? 14. How many holidays (including 
Sundays) are there in your state? How do they compare in number with those 
at Rome in the reign of Marcus Aurelius? 15. Describe the theater of Diony- 
sus (illustration, page 264). 16. What is the "Socratic method" of teaching? 
17. How did the Greeks manage to build solidly without the use of mortar? 18. 
Discuss the appropriateness of the terms: severe Doric; graceful Ionic; ornate Corin- 
thian. 19. Can you find examples of any of the Greek orders in public buildings 
famihar to you? 20. How do you explain the almost total loss of original Greek 
sculptures? 21. By reference to the illustrations, page 279, explain the following 

1 See page 146. 2 See page 177. 



Artistic Rome 297 

terms: shaft; capital; architraive; frieze; and cornice. 22. Explain the "Greek 
profile" seen in the Aphrodite of Cnidus and the Apollo of the Belvedere (plate 
facing page 76). 23. Name five famous works of Greek sculpture which exist to- 
day only in Roman copies. 24. What is your favorite Greek statue? Why do you 
like it? 25. "The dome, with the round arch out of which it sprang, is the most 
fertile conception in the whole history of building." Justify this statement. 26. 
What famous examples of domed churches and public buildings are familiar to you? 

27. What artistic objections to the use of "engaged columns" can you mention? 

28. Discuss the revival of cement construction in modern times. What are its 
special advantages? 29. What examples of triumphal arches in the United States 
and France are known to you? 30. Do you know of any modern columns of vic- 
tory? 31. Why is it likely that the bust of Nerva (illustration, page 200) is a more 
faithful likeness than that of Pericles (illustration, page 103)? 32. Write a brief 
essay describing an imaginary walk on the Athenian Acropolis in the Age of Pericles. 
S3>- Enumerate the most important contributions to civilization made in classical 
antiquity. 



CHAPTER XIII 

WESTERN EUROPE DURING THE EARLY MIDDLE AGES, 
476-962 A.D.i 

102. The Ostrogoths in Italy, 488-553 A.D. 

We are not to suppose that the settlement of Germans 
within the Roman Empire ended with the deposition of Romm- 
Transition to ^^^ Augustulus, near the close of the fifth century, 
the Middle The foUowing centuries witnessed fresh invasions 
^^^ and the establishment of new' Germanic states. 

The study of these troubled times leads us from the classical 
world to the world of medieval Europe, from the history of 
antiquity to the history of the Middle Ages. 

The kingdom which Odoacer established on Italian soil did 
not long endure. It was soon overthrown by the Ostrogoths. 
The Ostro- ^^ ^^^ ^^^^ ^^ ^^^ "fall" of Rome in 476 a.d. 
goths under they occupied a district south of the middle 
one Danube, which the government at Constantinople 
had hired them to defend. The Ostrogoths proved to be expen- 
sive and dangerous allies. When, therefore, their chieftain, 
Theodoric, offered to lead his people into Italy and against 
Odoacer, the Roman emperor gladly sanctioned the undertaking. 

Theodoric led the Ostrogoths — women and children as well 

as warriors — across the Alps and came down to meet Odoacer 

^ , . and his soldiers in battle. After suffering several 

Ostrogothic 

invasion of defeats, Odoacer shut himself up m the strong 

4.q^q^Al?^~ fortress of Ravenna. Theodoric could not capture 

the place and at last agreed to share with Odoacer 

the government of Italy, if the latter would surrender. The 

agreement was never carried into effect. When Theodoric 

entered Ravenna, he invited Odoacer to a great feast and at 

1 Webster, Readings in Medieval and Modern History, chapter i, "Stories of the 
Lombard Kings"; chapter ii, "Charlemagne." 

298 



The Ostrogoths in Italy 299 

its conclusion slew him in cold blood. Theodoric had now 
no rival in Italy. 

Though Theodoric gained the throne by violence and treach- 
ery, he soon showed himself to be, as a ruler, wise, broad-minded, 
and humane. He had lived as a youth in the xheodoric 
imperial court at Constantinople and there had king of Italy, 
become well acquainted with Roman ideas of law 
and order. Roman civilization impressed him; and he wished 







Tomb of Theodoric at Ravenna 



A two-storied marble building erected by Theodoric in imitation of a Roman tomb. 
The roof is a single block of marble, 33 feet in diameter and weighing more than 300 tons. 
Theodoric's body was subsequently removed from its resting place, and the mausoleum was 
converted into a church. 

not to destroy but to preserve it. Theodoric reigned in Italy for 
thirty-three years, and during this time the country enjoyed 
unbroken peace and prosperity. 

The enlightened policy of Theodoric was exhibited in many 
ways. He governed Ostrogoths and Romans with equal con- 
sideration. He kept all the old offices, such as Theodoric's 
the senatorship and the consulate, and by pref- ^"^® "^ ^*^^y 
erence filled them with men of Roman birth. His chief 
counselors were Romans. A legal code, which he drew up for 
the use of Ostrogoths and Romans ahke, contained only selec- 
tions from Roman law. He was remarkably tolerant and, in 



300 Western Europe in the Early Middle Ages 

spite of the fact that the Ostrogoths were Arians/ was always 
ready to extend protection to Catholic Christians. Theod- 
oric patronized Hterature and gave high positions to Roman 
writers. He restored the cities of Italy, had the roads and 
aqueducts repaired, and so improved the condition of agri- 
culture that Italy, from a wheat-importing, became a wheat- 
exporting, country. At Ravenna, the Ostrogothic capital, 
Theodoric erected many notable buildings, including a palace, 
a mausoleum, and several churches. The remains of these 
structures are still to be seen. 

The influence of Theodoric reached far beyond Italy. He 
allied himself by marriage with most pi the Germanic rulers 
Theodoric's ^^ ^^^ West. His second wife was a Frankish 
foreign princess, his sister was the wife of a Vandal chief- 

^^^^^ tain, one of his daughters married a king of the 

Visigoths, and another daughter wedded a Burgundian king. 
Theodoric by these alHances brought about friendly relations 
between the various barbarian peoples. It seemed, in fact, as 
if the Roman dominions in the West might again be united 
under a single ruler; as if the Ostrogoths might be the Ger- 
manic people to carry on the civilizing work of Rome. But 
no such good fortune was in store for Europe. 

Theodoric died in 526 a.d. The year after his death, a great 
emperor, Justinian, came to the throne at Constantinople, 
■r, J , , Justinian had no intention of abandoning to the 

End of the *' r ^ ^ ^ 

Ostrogothic Germans the rich provmces of Sicily and Italy, 
kingdom, 553 Although the Ostrogoths made a stubborn resist- 
ance to his armies, in the end they were so com- 
pletely overcome that they agreed to withdraw from the Italian 
peninsula. The feeble remnant of their nation filed sadly 
through the passes of the Alps and, mingling with other bar- 
barian tribes, disappeared from history. 

103. The Lombards in Italy, 568-774 A.D. 

The destruction of the Ostrogothic kingdom did not free 
Italy of the Germans. Soon after Justinian's death the country 

1 See page 236. 



The Lombards in Italy 



301 




/ EUROPE 

at the death of Justinian 565 A.D. 

^ JJ^ Scale of Miles 

V 100 200 300 400 500 600 




Europe in the Sixth Century 



302 Western Europe in the Early Middle Ages 

was again overrun, this time by the Lombards. The name of 
these invaders (in Latin, Langobardi) may have been derived 
Invasion of from the long beards that gave them such a fero- 
Italy by the cious aspect. The Lombards were the last of the 
cm ar s Germanic peoples to quit their northern wilder- 
ness and seek new homes in sunny Italy. They seized the 
territory north of the river Po — a region ever since known 
as Lombardy — and estabUshed their capital at Pavia. The 
Lombards afterwards made many settlements in central and 
southern Italy, but never succeeded in subduing the entire 
peninsula. 

The rule of the Lombards at first bore hardly on Italy, which 
they treated as a conquered land. In character they seem to 
Lombard have been far less attractive than their predeces- 

rule in Italy g^j-g^ ^j^g Visigoths and Ostrogoths. Many of 
them were still heathen when they entered Italy and others 
were converts to the Arian ^ form of Christianity. In course 
of time, however, the Lombards accepted Roman Catholi- 
cism and adopted the customs of their subjects. They even 
forgot their Germanic language and learned to speak Latin. ' 
The Lombard kingdom lasted over two centuries, until it 
was overthrown by the Franks.^ 

The failure of the Lombards to conquer all Italy had im- 
portant results in later history. Sicily and the extreme southern 
Results of P^^^ ^^ ^^^ Itahan peninsula, besides large dis- 
the Lorn- tricts containing the cities of Naples, Rome, 
Genoa, Venice, and Ravenna, continued to belong 
to the Roman Empire in the East. The rulers at Constanti- 
nople could not exercise effective control over their Italian 
possessions, now that these were separated from one another 
by the Lombard territories. The consequence was that Italy 
broke up into a number of small and practically independent 
states, which never combined into one kingdom until our own 
time. The ideal of a united Italy waited thirteen hundred 
years for its realization.^ 

1 See page 236. 2 See page 309. 

3 The modern kingdom of Italy dates from 1 861-1870 a.d. 



The Franks under Clovis and his Successors 303 



104. The Franks under Clovis and His Successors 

We have already met the Franks in their home on the lower 
Rhine, from which they pushed gradually into Roman terri- 
tory.^ In 486 A.D., just ten years after the deposi- Clovis, king 
tion of Romulus Augustulus, the Franks went Franks, 481- 
forth to conquer under Clovis,^ one of their chief- 511 A.D. 
tains. By overcoming the governor of Roman Gaul, in a 
battle near Soissons, Clovis destroyed the last vestige of impe- 
rial rule in the West and extended the Frankish dominions to 
the river Loire. Clovis then turned against his German neigh- 
bors. East of the Franks, in the region now known as Alsace, 
lived the Alamanni, a people whose name still survives in the 
French name of Germany.^ The Alamanni were defeated in a 
great battle near Strassburg (496 a.d.), and much of their 
territory was added to that of the Franks. Clovis subsequently 
conquered the Visigothic possessions between the Loire and 
the Pyrenees, and compelled the Burgundians to pay tribute. 
Thus Clovis made himself supreme over nearly the whole of 
Gaul and even extended his authority to the other side of the 
Rhine. This great work entitles him to be called the founder 
of the French nation. 

Clovis reigned in western Europe as an independent king, 

but he acknowledged a sort of allegiance to the Roman emperor 

by accepting the title of honorary consul. Hence- .^1^ p 1, 

forth to the Gallo-Romans he represented the and the 

distant ruler at Constantinople. The Roman in- Galio- 

^ ... Romans 

habitants of Gaul were not oppressed; their cities 

were preserved; and their language and laws were undis- 
turbed. Clovis, as a statesman, may be compared with his 
eminent contemporary, Theodoric the Ostrogoth. 

The Franks were still a heathen people, when they began 

1 See page 245. 

2 His name is properly spelled Chlodweg, which later became Ludwig, and in 
French, Louis. 

3 Allemagne. On the other hand, the inhabitants of Gaul came to call their 
country France and themselves Franqais after their conquerors, the Germanic 
Franks. 



304 Western Europe in the Early Middle Ages 



their career of conquest. Clovis, however, had married a 
Burgundian princess, Clotilda, who was a devout CathoHc and 
^, . . . an ardent advocate of Christianity. The story is 

Chnstianiza- 1 i • 

tion of the told how, w^hen Clovis was hard-pressed by the 

Alamanni at the battle of Strassburg, he vowed that 
if Clotilda's God gave him victory he would be- 
come a Christian. The Franks won, and Clovis, faithful to his 



Franks, 496 
A.D. 



I I Territory of the Franks 481 A.D. 
I I Conquests of Clovis 486-511 A.D. 
I I Conquests of successors 511-768 A.D. 
Scale of Miles 



■^iNGLO-SAXON 
^Kl^GDOMS 



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'TTANy f H 



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-', . k? 486,-a,Orlea 
Loire '^ "^ 

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!__ ^k A u s j ^ ^ '^^^/iS k^kM,^:^^ 

USK.Soissons <J'^i ■^- /C- < \ ^aV — ^1 / ■* "^ 



Bohemians 



laorAviani' 



I v^^Tsr -.ii // Saliburg .' 






r>° Lon -ritude West 6° Longitude East 5' 




Growth of the Prankish Dominions, 481-768 a.d. 



vow, had himself baptized by St. Remi, bishop of Reims. 
*'Bow down thy he'ad," spoke the bishop, as the Frankish 
king approached the font, ''adore what thou hast burned, 
burn what thou has adored." ^ With Clovis were baptized on 
that same day three thousand of his warriors. 

The conversion of Clovis was an event of the first importance. 
He and his Franks naturally embraced the orthodox CathoHc 
faith, which was that of his wife, instead of the Arian form 
of Christianity, w^hich had been accepted by almost all the 

1 Gregory of Tours, Historia Franconnn, ii, 31. 



The Franks under Charles Martel 305 

other Germanic invaders. Thus, by what seems the merest 
accident, Catholicism, instead of Arianism, became the religion 
of a large part of western Europe. More than significance 
this, the conversion of Clovis gained for the of Clovis's 
Frankish king and his successors the support of 
the Roman Church. The friendship between the popes and 
the Franks afterwards ripened into a close alliance which 
greatly influenced European history. 

The descendants of Clovis are called Merovingians.^ They 
occupied the throne of the Franks for nearly two hundred and 
fifty years. The annals of their reigns form an ^j^^ earlier 
unpleasant catalogue of bloody wars, horrible Merovingian 
murders, and deeds of treachery without number. ^^ 
Nevertheless, the earlier Merovingians were strong men, under 
whose direction the Frankish territory continued to expand, 
until it included nearly all of what is now France, Belgium, and 
Holland, besides a considerable part of Germany. 

The Frankish conquests differed in two important respects 
from those of the other Germanic peoples. In the first place, 
the Franks did not cut themselves off completely character of 
from their original homes. They kept permanently the Frankish 
their territory in Germany, drawing from it con- 
tinual reinforcements of fresh German blood. In the second 
place, the Franks steadily added new German lands to their 
possessions. They built up in this way what was the largest 
and the most permanent of all the barbarian states founded on 
the ruins of the Roman Empire. 

105. The Franks under Charles Martel and Pepin the Short 

After the middle of the seventh century the Frankish rulers, 
worn out by violence and excesses, degenerated into weakUngs, 
who reigned but did not rule. The actual manage- jYie later 
ment of the state passed into the hands of officers, Merovingian 
called ''mayors of the palace." They left to the *°^^ 
kings httle more than their title, their long hair, — the badge 
of royalty among the Franks, — and a scanty allowance for their 

1 From Merovech, grandfather of Clovis. 



3o6 Western Europe in the Early Middle Ages 

support. The later Merovingians, accordingly, are often known 
as the "do-nothing kings." 

The most illustrious of these mayors was Charles, surnamed 
Martel, "the Hammer," from the terrible defeat which he 
Charles administered to the Mohammedans near Tours, 

Martel [^ central France. ^ Charles Martel was virtually 

a king, but he never ventured to set aside the Merovingian ruler 
and himself ascend the throne. This step was taken, however, 
by Charles's son, Pepin the Short. 

Before dethroning the last feeble "do-nothing," Pepin sought 
the approval of the bishop of Rome. The pope, without hesi- 
Peoin the tation, declared that it was only right that the 
Short be- man who had the real authority in the state 
oMhe *^^ should have the royal title also. Pepin, accord- 
Franks, ingly, caused himself to be crowned king of the 
751 A.D. Franks, thus founding the Carolingian ^ dynasty 
(751 A.D.). Three years later Pope Stephen II came to Pepin's 
court and solemnly anointed the new ruler with holy oil, in 
accordance with ancient Jewish custom. The rite of anointing, 
something unknown to the Germans, gave to Pepin's coronation 
the sanction of the Roman Church. Henceforth the Prankish 
sovereigns called themselves "kings by the grace of God." 

Pepin was soon able to repay his great obligation to the Roman 
Church by becoming its protector against the Lombards. 
"Donation of These barbarians, who were trying to extend their 
Pepin," rule in Italy, threatened to capture Rome and 

756 A.D. ^-^^ territory in the vicinity of that city, then 

under the control of the pope. Pepin twice entered Italy with 
his army, defeated the Lombards, and forced them to cede to 
Pope Stephen an extensive district lying between Rome and 
Ravenna. Pepin might have returned this district to the 
emperor at Constantinople, to whom it had belonged, but the 
Prankish king declared that he had not fought for the advantage 
of any man but for the welfare of his own soul. He decided, 

1 See page 379. 

2 So called from Pepin's son, Charles the Great (in Latin, Carolus Magnus). 
The French form of his name is Charlemagne. 



The Reigri of Charlemagne 



307 



Charle- 
magne, the 
man 



therefore, to bestow his conquests on St. Peter's representative, 
the pope. Before this time the bishops of Rome had owned 
much land in Italy and had acted as virtual sovereigns in 
Rome and its neighborhood. Pepin's gift, known as the " Dona- 
tion of Pepin," greatly increased their possessions, which came 
to be called the States of the Church. They remained in the 
hands of the popes until late in the nineteenth century.^ 

106. The Reign of Charlemagne, 768-814 A.D. 

Pepin was succeeded in 768 a.d. by his two sons, one of whom, 
Charlemagne, three years later became sole king of the Franks. 
Charlemagne reigned for nearly 
half a century, 
and during this 
time he set his 
stamp on all later European 
history. His character and 
personality are familiar to us 
from a brief biography, writ- 
ten by his secretary, Einhard. 
Charlemagne, we learn, was 
a tall, square-shouldered, 
strongly built man, with bright, 
keen eyes, and an expression 
at once cheerful and dignified. 
Riding, hunting, and swim- 
ming were his favorite sports. 
He was simple in his tastes and 
very temperate in both food 
and drink. Except wlien in 
Rome, he wore the old Prank- 
ish costume, with high-laced 
boots, linen tunic, blue cloak, 
and sword girt at his side. He was a clear, fluent speaker, 
used Latin as readily as his native tongue, and understood Greek 

1 In 1870 A.D. the States of the Church were added to the newly formed king- 
dom of Italy. 




Charlemagne 

Lateran Museum, Rome 

A mosaic picture, made during the lifetime 
of Charlemagne, and probably a fair likeness 
of him. 



3o8 Western Europe in the Early Middle Ages 




and con- 
version of 
the Saxons, 
772-804 A.D. 



when it was spoken. "He also tried to learn to write and 
often kept his tablets and writing book under the piUow of 
his couch, that, when he had leisure, he might practice his 
hand in forming letters; but he made little progress in this 
task, too long deferred and begun too late in life." ^ For the 
times, however, Charlemagne was a well-educated man — by 
no means a barbarian. 

Much of Charlemagne's long life, almost to its close, was 
filled with warfare. He fought chiefly against the still-heathen 

Conquest peoples on the fron- 

tiers of the Prankish 
realm. The subjuga- 
tion of the Saxons, 
who lived in the forests and marshes 
of northwestern Germany, took 
many years. Charlemagne at the 
head of a great army would invade 
their territory, beat them in battle, 
and receive their submission, only 
to find his work undone by a sudden 
rising of the hberty-loving natives, 
after the withdrawal of the Franks. 
Once when Charlemagne was exas- 
perated by a fresh revolt, he ordered 
forty-five hundred prisoners to be 
executed. This savage massacre 
was followed by equally severe laws, 
which threatened with death all Saxons who refused baptism or 
observed the old heathen rites. By such harsh means Charle- 
magne at length broke down the spirit of resistance among the 
people. All Saxony, fromi the Rhine to the Elbe, became a 
Christian land and a permanent part of the Frankish realm. 

Shortly after the beginning of the Saxon wars the king of the 
Franks received an urgent summons from the pope, who was 
again being threatened by his old enemies, the Lombards. 
Charlemagne led a mighty host across the Alps, captured 

1 Einhard, Vita Caroli Magni, 25. 



The Iron Crown of 
lombardy 

A fillet of iron, which, according to 
pious legend, had been beaten out of 
one of the nails of the True Cross. It 
came to the Lombards as a gift from 
Pope Gregor>' I, as a reward for their 
conversion to Roman Catholicism. Dur- 
ing the Middle Ages it was used to 
crown the German emperors kings of 
Italy. This precious relic is now kept 
in a church at Monza in northern Italy. 



The Reign of Charlemagne 309 

Pavia, where the Lombard ruler had taken refuge, and added 
his possessions to those of the Franks. Thus passed away one 
more of the Germanic states which had arisen on ^ 

Conquest 
the ruins of the Roman Empire. Charlemagne of the 

now placed on his own head the famous 'Tron Iff^^^^' 
Crown," and assumed the title of "King of the 
Franks and Lombards, and Patrician of the Romans." 

Charlemagne's conquests were not confined to Germanic 
peoples. He forced the wild Avars, who had advanced from 
the Caspian into the Danube valley, to acknowl- 
edge his supremacy. He compelled various Slavic magne's 

tribes, including the Bohemians, to pay tribute. °*^®'" 

' ^ -' conquests 

He also invaded Spain and wrested from the Mos- 
lems the district between the Ebro River and the Pyrenees. 
By this last conquest Charlemagne may be said to have begun 
the recovery of the Spanish peninsula from Mohafnmedan rule.^ 

Charlemagne was a statesman, as well as a warrior. He 
divided his wide dominions into counties, each one ruled by a 
count, w^ho was expected to keep order and admin- charle- 
ister justice. The border districts, which lay magne's 
exposed to invasion, were organized into ''marks," sovernmen 
under the mihtary supervision of counts of the mark, or mar- 
graves (marquises). These officials had so much power and 
lived so far from the royal court that it was necessary for 
Charlemagne to appoint special agents, called missi dominici 
("the lord's messengers"), to maintain control over them. 
The missi w^re usually sent out in pairs, a layman and a bishop 
or abbot, in order that the one might serve as a check upon 
the other. They traveled from county to county, bearing the 
orders of their royal master and making sure that these orders 
were promptly obeyed. In this way Charlemagne kept well 
informed as to the condition of affairs throughout his kingdom. 

Charlemagne made a serious effort to revive classical culture 
in the West from the low state into which it had fallen dur- 

1 The rearguard of Charlemagne's army, when returning from Spain, was attacked 
and overwhelmed by the mountaineers of the Pyrenees. The incident gave rise 
to the famous French epic known as the Song of Roland. 



3IO Western Europe in the Early Middle Ages 

ing the period of the invasions. We stiU possess a number of 

laws issued by this Prankish king for the promotion of educa- 

_ . , , tion. He founded schools in the monasteries and 

Revival of 

learning cathedrals, where not only the clergy but also the 

under Charle- common people might receive some training, 
magne 

He formed his whole court into a palace school, 

in which learned men from Italy, Spain, and England gave 




Cathedral at Aix-la-Chapelle 

Ak-la-Chapelle (Aachen) was the capital city and favorite residence of Charlemagne. The 
church which he built here was almost entirely destroyed by the Northmen in the tenth 
century. The octagonal building surmounted by a dome, which forms the central part of 
the present cathedral, is a restoration of the -original structure. The marble columns, 
pavements, and mosaics of Charlemagne's church were brought by him from Ravenna. 

instruction to his own children and those of his nobles. The 
king himself often studied with them, under the direction of 
his good friend, Alcuin, an EngUshman and the foremost scholar 
in western Europe. He had the manuscripts of Latin authors 
collected and copied, so that the knowledge preserved in 



Charlemagne 311 

books should not be forgotten. All this civilizing work, to- 
gether with the peace and order which he maintained through- 
out a wide territory, made his reign the most brilHant period 
of the early Middle Ages. 

107. Charlemagne and the Revival of the 
Roman Empire, 800 A.D. 

Charlemagne, the champion of Christendom and the fore- 
most ruler in Europe, seemed to the men of his day the rightful 

successor of the Roman emperors. He had their ^ 

^ . Coronation 

power, and now he was to have their name. In of Charie- 
the year 800 a.d. the Prankish king visited Rome ^^^".®' 
to investigate certain accusations made against 
the pope, Leo III, by his enemies in the city. Charlemagne 
absolved Leo of all wrong-doing and restored him to his office. 
Afterwards, on Christmas Day Charlemagne went to old St. 
Peter's Church, where the pope was sa3dng Mass. As the 
king, dressed in the rich robes of a Roman patrician, knelt in 
prayer before the high altar, the pope suddenly placed on his 
head a golden crown, while aU the people cried out with one 
voice, ''Long Hfe and victory to Charles Augustus, the great 
and pacific emperor of the Romans, crowned by God!" 

Although Charlemagne appears to have been surprised by 
the pope's act, we know that he wished to become emperor. 
The imperial title would confer upon him greater Reasons for 
dignity and honor, though not greater power, than the 
he possessed as king of the Franks and of the 
Lombards. The pope, in turn, was glad to reward the man 
who had protected the Church and had done so much to 
spread the Catholic faith among the heathen. The Roman 
people also welcomed the coronation, because they felt that 
the time had come for Rome to assume her old place as the 
capital of the world. To reject the eastern ruler, in favor of 
the great Prankish king, was an emphatic method of asserting 
Rome's independence of Constantinople. 

The coronation of Charlemagne was one of the most impor- 
tant events in medieval history. It might be thought a small 



312 Western Europe in the Early Middle Ages 

matter that he should take the imperial title, when he already 
exercised imperial sway throughout western Europe. But 
Significance Charlemagne's contemporaries beheved that the 
of the old Roman Empire had now been revived, and 

coronation ^^^^ ^ German king now sat on the throne once 
occupied by Augustus and Constantine. Henceforth there was 
estabhshed in the West a line of Roman emperors which lasted 
until the opening of the nineteenth century.^ 

Charlemagne's empire was not in any true sense a continua- 
tion of the Roman Empire. It did not include the dominions 
Charle- ^^ ^^^ East, over which the emperors at Constan- 

magne's tinople were to reign for centuries. Moreover, 

empire Charlemagne and his successors on the throne had 

Httle in common with the old rulers of Rome, w^ho spoke Latin, 
administered Roman law, and regarded the Germans as among 
their most dangerous enemies. Charlemagne's empire was, in 
fact, largely a new creation. 

108. Disruption of Charlemagne's Empire, 814-870 A.D. 

The empire of Charlemagne did not long remain intact. 
So vast was its extent and so unlike were its inhabitants in 
After Charle- race, language, and customs that it could be 
magne managed only by a ruler of the greatest energy 

and strength of will. Unfortunately, the successors of Charle- 
magne proved to be too weak for the task of maintaining peace 
and order. Western Europe now entered on a long period of 
confusion and violence, during which Charlemagne's posses- 
sions broke up into separate and warring kingdoms. 

Charlemagne's son, Louis the Pious, who became emperor in 
814 A.D., was a well-meaning but feeble ruler, better fitted for 
Treaty of ^^^ ^^^^^ ^^^^ ^^ ^ monastery than for the throne. 
Verdun, He could not control his rebeUious sons, who, 

843 A.D. ^^^^ during his lifetime, fought bitterly over their 

inheritance. The unnatural strife, which continued after his 
death, was temporarily settled by a treaty concluded at the 

1 The title of "Holy Roman Emperor," assumed by the later successors of 
Charlemagne, was kept by them till 1806 a.d. 



Disruption of Charlemagne's Empire 313 



city of Verdun. According to its terms Lothair, the eldest 
brother, received Italy and the imperial title, together with a 
narrow stretch of land along the valleys of the Rhine and the 
Rhone, between the North Sea and the Mediterranean. Louis 
and Charles, the other brothers, received kingdoms lying to the 
east and west, respectively, of Lothair's territory. The Treaty 




I 1 West Frankish Kingdc 

' of Charles 

I I Lothair's Kingdom 

.,»«->-^ The Boundaries in 870 A.D, 

according to the Treaty 

of Mersen 

Scale of Miles , 



Longitude West 0'' Lopgitude East 



Greenwich 10° 



The Frankish Dominions as divided by the Treaties 
OF Verdun (843 A.D.) and Mersen (870 A.D.) 

of Verdun may be said to mark the first stage in the dissolution 
of the Carolingian Empire. 

A second treaty, made at Mersen in Holland, was entered 
into by Louis and Charles, after the death of their brother 
Lothair. They divided between themselves Lo- jj-eaty of 
thair's kingdom north of the Alps, leaving to his Mersen, 
young son the possession of Italy and the empty ^"^^ ^'^' 
title of "emperor." The Treaty of Mersen may be said to 
mark the second stage in the dissolution of the Carolingian 
Empire. That empire, as such, had now ceased to exist. 



314 Western Europe in the Early Middle Ages 

The territorial arrangements made by the treaties of Verdun 
and Mersen foreshadowed the future map of western Europe. 
Importance ^^^ ^^^^ Frankish kingdom of Louis, inhabited 
of the two almost entirely by Germanic peoples, was to 
develop into modern Germany. The West Frank- 
ish kingdom of Charles, inhabited mainly by descendants of 
Romanized Gauls, was to become modern France. Lothair's 
kingdom, separated into two parts by the Alps, never became 
a national state. Italy, indeed, might be united under one 
government, but the long, narrow strip north of the Alps had 
no unity of race, no common language, and no national bound- 
aries. It was fated to be broken into fragments and to be 
fought over for centuries by its stronger neighbors. Part of 
this territory now forms the small countries of Belgium, Hol- 
land, and Switzerland, and another part, known as Alsace and 
Lorraine,^ still remains a bone of contention between France 
and Germany. 

Even had Charlemagne been followed by strong and able 
rulers, it w^ould have been a difficult matter to hold the empire 
Renewed together in the face of the fresh series of barbarian 

barbarian inroads w^hich began immediately after his death, 
mv sions ^j^^ Mohammedans, though checked by the Franks 

at the battle of Tours,^ continued to be dangerous enemies. 
They ravaged southern France, Sicily, and parts of Italy. The 
piratical Northmen from Denmark and Noi-way harried the 
coast of France and made inroads far beyond Paris. They also 
penetrated into western Germany, sailing up the Rhine in their 
black ships and destroying such important tow^ns as Cologne 
and Aix-la-Chapelle. Meanwhile, eastern Germany lay exposed 
to the attacks of the Slavs, whom Charlemagne had defeated 
but not subdued. The Magyars, or Hungarians, were 'also 
dreaded foes. Their wild horsemen entered Europe from the 
plains of Asia and, like the Huns and Avars to whom they were 
probably related, spread devastation far and wide. A great 

1 The French name Lorraine and the German name Lothringen are both derived 
from the Latin title of Lothair's kingdom — Lotharii regnum. 

2 See page 306. 



Germany under Saxon Kings 315 

part of Europe thus suffered from invasions almost as destruc- 
tive as those which had brought ruin to the old Roman 
world. 

109. Germany under Saxon Kings, 919-973 A.D. 

The tenth century saw another movement toward the resto- 
ration of law and order. The civilizing work of Charlemagne 
was taken up by German kings, not of the old ^j^^ German 
Prankish stock, but belonging to that Saxon people stem- 
which had opposed Charlemagne so long and 
bitterly. Saxony was one of the five great territorial states, 
or stem-duchies, as they are usually called, into which Germany 
was then divided.^ Germany at that time extended only as 
far east as the river Elbe, beyond which lay the territory occu- 
pied by half-civilized Slavic tribes. 

The rulers of the stem-duchies enjoyed practical independ- 
ence, though they had recognized some king of Germany ever 
since the Treaty of Verdun. Early in the tenth Elective 
century the Carolingian dynasty died out in Ger- kingship of 
many, and the German nobles then proceeded to ^^^^^y 
elect their own kings. Their choice fell first upon Conrad, 
duke of Franconia, but he had little authority outside his own 
duchy. A stronger man was required to keep the peace among 
the turbulent nobles and to repel the invaders of Germany. 
Such a man appeared in the person of Henry, duke of Saxony, 
who, after Conrad's death, was chosen king. 

Henry I, called the Fowler, because he was fond of hunting 
birds, spent the greater part of his reign in wars against the 
Slavs, Magyars, and other invaders. He con- , 
quered from the Slavs the territory afterwards Henry the 
known as Brandenburg. This country was to Jff*2^^f '' ^^^ 
furnish Germany, in later centuries, with its pres- 
ent dynasty — the Hohenzollerns.^ He occupied the southern 
part of Denmark (Schleswig) and Christianized it. He also 

1 The others were Franconia, Swabia, Bavaria, and Lorraine. 

2 The HohenzoUerns became electors of Brandenburg in 1415 a.d., kings of 
Prussia in 1701, and emperors of Germany in 1871. 



3i6 Western Europe in the Early Middle Ages 



recovered for Germany Lorraine, a district which remained in 
German hands until the eighteenth century. 

Henry the Fowler was succeeded by his son, Otto I, whom 
history knows as Otto the Great. He well deserved the title. 
Like Charlemagne, Otto presented the aspect of 
Otto the a born ruler. He is described as being tall and 

^^^^AT?^^" commanding in presence, strong and vigorous of 
body, and gifted with great charm of manner. In 
his bronzed face shone clear and sparkhng eyes, and down his 
breast hung a long, thick beard. Though subject to violent 
outbursts of temper, he was liberal to his 
friends and just to his foes. Otto was a 
man of immense energy and ambition, 
with a high conception of his duties as a 
sovereign. His reign forms one of the 
most notable epochs in German history. 
Otto continued Henry's work of de- 
fending Germany from the foes which 
Otto and threatened to overrun that 




Ring Seal of Otto 
THE Great 



The inscription reads 
Oddo Rex. 



the Magyars country. He won his most 
conspicuous success against the Magyars, 
who suffered a crushing defeat on the 
banks of the river Lech in Bavaria (955 
A.D.). These barbarians now ceased their raids and retired to 
the lands on the middle Danube which they had seized from 
the Slavs. Here they settled down, accepted Christianity from 
the Roman Church, and laid the foundations of the kingdom 
of Hungary.^ As a protection against future Magyar inroads 
Otto estabhshed the East Mark. This region afterwards rose 
to great importance under the name of Austria. 

Otto was an excellent ruler of Germany. He made it his 
business to strengthen the royal authority by weakening that 
of the stem-dukes. He had to fight against them on more than 

1 The Magyar settlement in central Europe had the important result of divid- 
ing the Slavic peoples into three groups. Those who remained south of the Danube 
(Serbians, Croatians, etc.) were henceforth separated from the northwestern Slavs 
(Bohemians, Moravians, and Poles) and from the eastern Slavs (Russians). See 
the map facing page 326. 



Otto the Great 317 

one occasion, for they regarded themselves almost as independ- 
ent kings. Otto was able to keep them in check, but the rulers 
who followed him were less successful in this re- otto and the 
spect. The struggle between the kings and their stem-dukes 
powerful nobles formed a constant feature of the medieval 
history of Germany. 

110. Otto the Great and the Restoration of the 
Roman Empire, 962 A.D. 

Otto the Great is not to be remembered only as a German 
king. His reign was also noteworthy in the history of Italy. 
The country at this time was hopelessly divided Condition of 
between rival and contending peoples. The ^^^^^ 
emperor at Constantinople controlled the southern extremity of 
the peninsula. The Mohammedans held Sicily and some cities 
on the mainland. The pope ruled at Rome and in the States 
of the Church. A so-called king of Italy still reigned in Lom- 
bardy, but he could not manage the powerful counts, dukes, and 
marquises, who were virtually independent within their own 
domains. Even the imperial title died out, and now there was 
no longer a Roman emperor in the West. 

The deplorable condition of Italy invited interference from 

abroad. Following in the footsteps of Charlemagne, Otto the 

Great led two expeditions across the Alps, assumed 

Coronation 
the ''Iron Crown" ^ of Lonibardy, and then pro- of Otto the 

ceeded to Rome, where he secured the pope (John ^I^^l' 

962 A. 13. 

XII) against the latter's enemies in that city. 
Otto's reward was the same as Charlemagne's. On Candlemas 
Day ,2 962 A.D., the grateful pope crowned him Roman emperor. 
The coronation of Otto the Great seemed to his contem- 
poraries a necessary and beneficial act. They still believed 
that the Roman Empire was suspended, not leaning 
extinct; and that now, one hundred and fifty of the 
years after Charlemagne, the occasion was oppor- ^°^o"^*^o^ 
tune to revive the name and power associated with the golden 
age of the first Frankish emperor. Otto's ardent spirit, one 

1 See the illustration, page 308. 2 Februarj^ 2d. 



3i8 Western Europe in the Early Middle Ages 

may well believe, was fired with this vision of imperial sway 
and the renew^al of a title around which clustered so many 
memories of success and glory. 

But the outcome of Otto's restoration of the Roman Empire 
was good neither for Italy nor for Germany. It became the 




-'/y/Long /^ est^^/0°Lpng:. East/frg m-G ieen y, ich JO"" 



Europe in the Age of Otto the Great, 962 A.D. 



rule, henceforth, that the man whom the German nobles chose 
as their king had a claim, also, to the Italian crown and the 

„ . imperial title. The efforts of the German kings 

Ultimate ^ , ,,.1.11 i • • 

results of to make good this claim led to their constant in- 
terference in the affairs of Italy. They treated 
that country as a conquered province which had 
no right to a national Hfe and an independent government 
under its own rulers. At the same time they neglected Germany 



the 
coronation 



The Anglo-Saxons in Britain 319 

and failed to keep their powerful territorial lords in subjection. 
Neither Italy nor Germany, in consequence, could become a 
unified, centralized state, such as was formed in France and 
England during the later Middle Ages. 

The empire of Charlemagne, restored by Otto the Great, 
came to be caUed in later centuries the ''Holy Roman Empire." 
The title points to the idea of a w^orld monarchy j^^ g^j 
— the Roman Empire — and a world reHgion — Roman 
Roman Christianity — united in one institution. °^^*^® 
This magnificent idea was never fully reahzed. The popes and 
emperors, instead of being bound to each other by the closest 
ties, were more generally enemies than friends. A large part 
of medieval history was to turn on this confhct between the 
Empire and the Papacy.^ 

111. The Anglo-Saxons in Britain, 449-839 A.D. 

From the history of Continental Europe we now turn to 
the history of Britain. That island had been overrun by the 
Germanic barbarians after the middle of the fifth Anglo-Saxon 
century.^ They are commonly known as Anglo- conquest of 
Saxons, from the names of their two principal 
peoples, the Angles and Saxons. The Anglo-Saxon conquest of 
Britain was a slow process, which lasted at least one hundred 
and fifty years. The invaders followed the rivers into the 
interior and gradually subdued more than a half of what is 
now England, comprising the fertile plain district in the southern 
and eastern parts of the island. 

Though the Anglo-Saxons probably destroyed many flourish- 
ing cities and towns of the Romanized Britons, it seems Hkely 
that the conquerors spared the women, with whom Nature of 
they intermarried, and the agricultural laborers, *^® conquest 
whom they made slaves. Other natives took refuge in the hill 
regions of western and northern Britain, and here their de- 
scendants still keep up the Celtic language and traditions. The 
Anglo-Saxons regarded the Britons with contempt, naming 
them Welsh, a word which means one who talks gibberish. 

1 See pages 455-462. * See page 246. 



320 Western Europe in the Early Middle Ages 

The antagonism between the two peoples died out in the course 
of centuries; conquerors and conquered intermingled; and 
an Enghsh nation, partly Celtic and partly Germanic, came 
into being. 

The Anglo-Saxons started to fight one another before they 
ceased fighting their common enemy, the Britons. Throughout 




Anglo-S.\xon Drinking Horn 

Horn of Ulphus (Wulf) in the cathedral of York. The old English were heavy drinkers, 
chiefly of ale and mead. The evening meal usually ended with a drinking bout. 

the seventh and eighth centuries, the Anglo-Saxon states were 

engaged in almost constant struggles, either for increase of 

The seven territory or for supremacy. The kingdoms farthest 

kingdoms in east — Kent, Sussex, Essex, and East Angha — 

n am found their expansion checked by other kingdoms 

— Northumbria, Mercia, and Wessex — which grew up in the 

interior of the island. Each of these three stronger states 

gained in turn the leading place. 

The beginning of the supremacy of Wessex dates from the 

reign of Egbert. He had hved for some years as an exile at the 

Egbert and court of Charlemagne, from whom he must have 

the suprem- learned valuable lessons of war and statesmanship. 

acy of 

Wessex, 802- After returning from the Continent, Egbert became 

839 A.D. yj^g Qf Wessex and gradually forced the rulers of 

the other states to acknowledge him as overlord. Though 

Egbert was never directly king of all England, he began the 

work of uniting the Anglo-Saxons under one government. His 

descendants have occupied the EngHsh throne to the present day. 

When the Germans along the Rhine and the Danube crossed 

the frontiers and entered the western provinces, they had 



The Anglo-Saxons in Britain 



321 



ANGLO-SAXON 
BRITAIN 

Scale of English Miles 




322 Western Europe in the Early Middle Ages 

already been partially Romanized. They understood enough of 
Roman civilization to appreciate it and to desire to preserve 
Anglo-Saxon it. The situation was quite different with the 
Britain Anglo-Saxons. Their original home lay in a part 

of Germany far beyond the borders of the Roman Empire 
and remote from the cultural influences of Rome. Coming to 
Britain as barbarians, they naturally introduced their own 
language, laws, and customs wherever they settled. Much of 
what the Anglo-Saxons brought with them still Hves in England, 
and from that country has spread to the United States and the 
vast EngHsh colonies beyond the seas. The EngUsh language is 
less indebted to Latin than any of the Romance languages, ^ 
and the Common law of England owes much less to Roman 
law than do the legal systems of Continental Europe. England, 
indeed, looks to the Anglo-Saxons for some of the most charac- 
teristic and important elements of her civiHzation. 

112. Christianity in the British Isles 

The Anglo-Saxons also brought to Britain their heathen 
faith. Christianity did not come to them until the close 
Preparation ^^ ^^^ ^^^^^^ century. At this time more or less 
for intercourse had sprung up between the people of 

ns am y ;g;ent, lying nearest to the Continent, and the 
Franks in Gaul. Ethelbert, the king of Kent, had even married 
the Prankish princess, Bertha. He allowed his Christian wife 
to bring a bishop to her new home and gave her the deserted 
church of St. Martin at Canterbury as a place of worship. 
Queen Bertha's fervent desire for the conversion of her husband 
and his people prepared the way for an event of first impor- 
tance in English history — the mission of Augustine. 

The pope at this time was Gregory I, better known, from his 
services to the Roman Church, as Gregory the Great.'^ The 
Mission of kingdom of Kent, with its Christian queen, must 
Augustine, have seemed to him a promising field for mission- 
ary enterprise. Gregory, accordingly, sent out the 
monk Augustine with forty companions to carry the Gospel to 

1 See page 208. * See page 350. 



Christianity in the British Isles 



323 




the heathen English. The king of Kent, already well disposed 
toward the Christian faith, greeted the missionaries kindly and 
told them that they were free to convert whom they would. 
Before long he and his court embraced Christianity, and the 
people of Kent soon followed the royal example. The monks 
were assigned a residence in Canterbury, a city which has ever 
since remained the rehgious capital of England. From Kent 
Christianity in its Ro- 
man form gradually 
spread into the other 
Anglo-Saxon kingdoms. 
Augustine and his 
monks were not the 
first mis- Celtic 
Sionaries Christianity 

to Britain. Roman 
soldiers, merchants, and 
officials had introduced 
Christianity among the 
Britons as early as the 
second century. Dur- 
ing the fifth century 

the famous St. Patrick had carried Christianity to the 
heathen Irish. The Anglo-Saxon invasion of Britain drove 
many Christians to Ireland, and that island in the sixth and 
seventh centuries became a center from which devoted monks 
went forth to labor in western Scotland and northern Britain.^ 
Here they came in contact with the Roman missionaries. 

The Celtic Christians followed some customs which differed 
from those observed by Roman Christians. They computed 
the date on which Easter fell according to a Differences 
system unlike that of the Romans. They per- 
mitted their priests to marry; the Romans for- 
bade the practice. Their monks shaved the front 
of the head from ear to ear as a tonsure, while Roman monks 



St. Martin's Church, Canterbury 

The present church, dating from the thirteenth cen- 
tury, occupies the site of a chapel built before the arrival 
of Augustine. The walls still contain some of the Roman 
bricks used in the original structure. St. Martin's 
Church was the scene of the earliest work of Augustine 
in Canterbury. 



between 
Celtic and 
Roman 
Christianity 



1 The enthusiasm of the Celtic Christians reached such proportions that it 
swept back upon the Continent. In the seventh and eighth centuries Irish mission- 



324 Western Europe in the Early Middle Ages 

shaved the top of the head, leaving a "crown of thorns." These 
differences may not seem very important, but they were enough 
to prevent the cooperation of Celtic and Roman missionaries 
for the conversion of the heathen. 




Canterbury Cathedral 

The choir dates from the twelfth century, the nave, transepts, and central tower, from 
the fifteenth century. One of the two towers at the west front was built in 1834-1840 a.d. 
The beautiful stained glass in the windows of the choir belongs to the thirteenth century. 



The rivalry between Celtic and Roman Christians was 
finally settled at a church gathering, or synod, called by the 
Synod of ^^^S ^f Northumbria at Whitby. The main con- 



Whitby, 
664 A.D. 



troversy at this synod concerned the proper date 
for Easter. In the course of the debate it was 
asserted that the Roman custom had the sanction of St. Peter, 
to whom Christ had intrusted the keys of heaven. This state- 
ment was enough for the Northumbrian king, who thereupon 
decided in favor of the Roman claim, declaring that he would 

aries worked among the heathen Germans and founded monasteries in Burgundy, 
Lombardy, and southern Germany (now Switzerland). 



The Fusion of Germans and Romans 325 

not oppose St. Peter, ''lest when I come before the gates of the 
kingdom of heaven, he who holds the keys should not open to 
me." ^ The representatives of the Celtic Church then withdrew 
from England, leaving the field clear for Roman missionaries. 

The decision of the Synod of Whitby in favor of Rome meant 
that all England henceforth would recognize the pope's author- 
ity in religious matters. It remained a Roman ^, „ . . , 
^11. Ml. r ^ T. r • ^hc British 

Catholic country until the time of the Reformation, isles become 

nearly nine hundred years later.^ The Celtic 5°^^ 

Christians in Ireland and Scotland also in the 

course of time became the devoted children of the Roman 

Church. 

113. The Fusion of Germans and Romans 

We have now followed the fortunes of the Germans for five 
centuries from the end of the Roman Empire in the West. 
Most of their kingdoms, it has been seen, were not ^j^^ 
permanent. The Visigothic and Burgundian do- Germanic 
minions in Gaul yielded to the Franks, and those "^ °°^^ 
of the Visigoths in Spain, to the Mohammedan Arabs.^ The 
Vandal possessions in North Africa were regained by the em- 
perors at Constantinople.^ The rule of the Ostrogoths in Italy 
endured for only sixty years and that of the Lombards passed 
away after two centuries. The kingdoms estabhshed by the 
Franks and the Anglo-Saxons alone developed into lasting 
states. 

But even where the Germans did not found permanent king- 
doms, they mingled with the subject provincials and adopted 
much of the old Roman civilization. The fusion 
of the two peoples naturally required a long time, J^^^^e*"*^^^ 
being scarcely completed before the middle of the fusion of 
tenth century. It was hindered, in the first place, ^nd°^Romans 
by the desire of the Germans to secure the lands 
of the Romans. Wherever the barbarians settled, they appropri- 

1 Bede, Historia ecclesiastica, iii, 25. 

2 The separation from Rome occurred in 1534 a.d., during the reign of Henry 
VIII. 

» See page 37S. « See page 330. 



326 Western Europe in the Early Middle Ages 

ated a large part of the agricultural soil. How much they took 
varied in different countries. The Ostrogoths seem to have 
seized one- third of the land in Italy; the Visigoths, two-thirds 
of that in Gaul and Spain; the Anglo-Saxons, perhaps all the 
tillable soil of Britain. It could not but be galling to the Romans 
to surrender their farms to the barbarians. In the second 
place, the Germans often assessed heavy taxes on the Romans, 
which they themselves refused to pay. Tax-paying seemed to 
the Germans a mark of servitude. In the third place, a barrier 
between the two peoples arose from the circumstance that 
each had its particular law. For several centuries following the 
invasions there was one law for the Romans — that which they 
had enjoyed under the empire — and another law for the Ger- 
mans — their old tribal customs. After the Germans had 
lived for some time in contact with the Romans they wrote out 
their laws in the Latin language. These ''Laws of the Bar- 
barians" still survive and throw much light on their early 
beUefs and manners. 

In spite of the hindrances to fusion, it seems true that the 

Germans and the Romans felt no great dislike for each other 

and that, as a rule, they freely intermingled. 

Conditions Certain conditions directly favored this result. 

favoring . "^ 

fusion First, many Germans had found their way within 

the empire as hired soldiers, colonists, and 
slaves, long before the invasions began. Second, the Ger- 
manic invaders came in relatively small numbers. Third, 
the Germans entered the Roman world not as destroyers, 
but as homeseekers. They felt a real reverence for Roman 
civiHzation. And fourth, some of the principal Germanic 
nations, including the Visigoths, Burgundians, and Vandals, 
were already Christians at the time of their invasions, while 
other nations, such as the Franks and the Anglo-Saxons, wxre 
afterwards converted to Christianity. As long, however, as 
most of the Germans remained Arian Christians ^ their belief 
stood in the way of friendly intercourse with the Roman 
provincials, who had accepted the Catholic faith. 

^ See page 236. 



The Fusion of Germans and Romans 327 

If western Europe during the early Middle Ages presented 

a scene of violence and confusion while the Germans were set- 

tlinsj in their new homes, a different picture was ^ 

Contrast 
afforded by eastern Europe. Here the Roman between 

Empire still survived and continued to uphold ?^^* ^°^ 

for centuries the Roman tradition of law and 

order. The history of that empire forms the theme of the 

following chapter. 

Studies 

I. On an outline map indicate the boundaries of the empire of Charlemagne, 
distinguishing his hereditary possessions from those which he acquired by conquest. 

2. On an outline map indicate the boundaries of the empire of Otto the Great. 

3. What events are connected with the following places: Soissons; Mersen; 
Whitby; Reims; Verdun; Canterbury; and Strassburg? 4. What is the historical 
importance of Augustine, Henry the Fowler, Pepin the Short, Charles Martel, 
Egbert, and Ethelbert? 5. Give dates for the following events: battle of Tours; 
crowning of Charlemagne as emperor; crowning of Otto the Great as emperor; 
deposition of Romulus Augustulus; Augustine's mission to England; and the 
Treaty of Verdun. 6. Explain the foUov.'ing expressions: "do-nothing kings"; 
missi dominici; Holy Roman Empire; and "Donation of Pepin." 7. Why was 
the extinction of the Ostrogothic kingdom a misfortune for Italy? 8. Why did 
Italy remain for so many centuries after the Lombard invasion merely "a geograph- 
ical expression"? 9. WTiat diflference did it make whether Clovis became an Arian 
or a Catholic? 10. What events in the Uves of Clovis and Pepin the Short contrib- 
uted to the alliance between the Franks and the popes? 11. What provinces of 
the Roman Empire in the West were not included within the limits of Charle- 
magne's empire? 12. What countries of modern Europe are included within the 
limits of Charlemagne's empire? 13. Compare the missi dominici with the "eyes 
and ears" of Persian kings. 14. What is the origin of the word "emperor"? 
As a title distinguish it from that of "king." 15. Why has Lothair's kingdom 
north of the Alps been called the "strip of trouble"? 16. In what parts of the 
British Isles are Celtic languages still spoken? 17. How did the four English 
counties, Sussex, Essex, Norfolk, and Suffolk, receive their names? 18. What 
was the importance of the Synod of Whitby? 19. Set forth the conditions which 
hindered, and those which favored, the fusion of Germans and Romans. 



CHAPTER XIV 

EASTERN EUROPE DURING THE EARLY MIDDLE AGES, 
395-1095 A.D. 

114. The Roman Empire in the East 

The Roman Empire in the West moved rapidly to its "fall" 

in 476 A.D,, at the hands of the Germanic invaders. The Roman 

Empire in the East, though threatened by enemies 

the Roman from without and weakened by civil conflicts 

Empire in irom within, endured for more than a thousand 
the East 

years. Until the middle of the eleventh century 

it was the strongest state in Europe, except during the reign 

of Charlemagne, when the Prankish kingdom ecHpsed it. Until 

the middle of the fifteenth century it preserved the name, the 

civilization, and some part of the dominions, of ancient Rome.^ 

The long life of the Roman Empire in the East is one of the 

marvels of history. Its great and constant vitaUty appears 

the more remarkable, when one considers that 
its"s^i^vival ^^ ^^^ ^^ easily defensible frontiers, contained 

many different races with Httle in common, and 
on all sides faced hostile states. The empire survived so 
long, because of its vast wealth and resources, its despotic, 
centralized government, the strength of its army, and the 
almost impregnable position occupied by Constantinople, the 
capital city. 

The changing fortunes of the empire during the Middle Ages 
are reflected in some of the names by which it is often known. 

The term ''Greek Empire" expresses the fact that 
Character ^j^g g^g^^-g became more and more Greek in char- 

of the . 1 1 /- r 1 

empire acter, owmg to the loss, first of the western 

provinces in the fifth century, and then of Syria 

and Egypt in the seventh century. Another term — ''Byzan- 

1 The fall of the empire came in 1453 a.d., when Constantinople was captured 
by the Ottoman Turks. 

328 



The Roman Empire in the East 329 

tine Empire" — appropriately describes the condition of the 
state in still later times, when its possessions were reduced to 
Constantinople (ancient Byzantium) and the territory in the 
neighborhood of that city. But through all this period the 
rulers at Constantinople regarded themselves as the true suc- 
cessors of Augustus, Diocletian, and Constantine. They never 
admitted the right of Charlemagne and Otto the Great to 
estabHsh a rival Roman Empire in western Europe.^ They 
claimed to be the only legitimate heirs of Old Rome. 

115. The Reign of Justinian, 527-565 A.D. 

The history of the Roman Empire in the East, for more than 
one hundred years after the death of Theodosius, is unevent- 
ful. His successors, though unable to prevent 
the Germans from seizing Italy and the other of Theodo- 
western provinces, managed to keep their own ^^"^' ^^^~ 

.... '. ^ . ,527 A.D. 

dommions mtact. Ihe eastern provinces escaped 
the fate of those in the West, because they were more populous 
and offered greater obstacles to the barbarian invaders, who 
followed the Hne of least resistance. The gradual recovery 
of the empire in strength and warlike energy prepared the 
way for a really eminent ruler — Justinian. 

Justinian is described as a man of noble bearing, simple in 
his habits, affable in speech, and easy of approach to all his 
subjects. Historians have often drawn attention justinian 
to his wonderful activity of mind and power of and 
steady industry. So great was his zeal for work ®° °^* 
that one of his courtiers called him ''the emperor who never 
sleeps." Possessed of large ideas and inspired by the majesty 
of Rome, Justinian aimed to be a great conqueror, a great 
lawgiver, and a great restorer of civilization. His success 
in whatever he undertook must be ascribed in part to his 
wife, Theodora, whom he associated with himself on the throne. 
Theodora, strong of mind and wise in counsel, made a worthy 
helpmate for Justinian, who more than once declared that in 
affairs of state he had consulted his "revered wife." 

1 See pages 311-312, 317-318. 



330 Eastern Europe in the Early Middle Ages 

It was the ambition of Justinian to conquer the Germanic 
kingdoms which had been formed out of the Mediterranean 
Conquests of provinces. In this task he relied chiefly on the 
Justinian military genius of Belisarius, one of the world's, 

foremost commanders. Belisarius was able in one short cam- 
paign to destroy the Vandal kingdom in North Africa.^ The 
Vandals by this time had lost their early vigor; they made but a 
feeble resistance; and their Roman subjects welcomed Beli- 




A Mosaic op Justinian 

A mosaic dating from 547 a.d., in the church of San Vitale, Ravenna. 
It shows the emperor (in the center) with a bishop, his suite, and im- 
perial guards. The picture probably gives us a fair idea of Justinian's 
appearance, though it represents him as somewhat younger than he was 
at the time. 

sarius as a deliverer. Justinian awarded a triumph to his 
victorious general, an honor which for five centuries emperors 
alone had enjoyed. The conquest of North Africa, together 
with the islands of Sardinia and Corsica, was followed by the 
overthrow of the Ostrogothic kingdom in Sicily and Italy .^ Jus- 
tinian also recovered from the Visigoths ^ the southeastern 
part of Spain. He could now say with truth that the Medi- 
terranean was once more a Roman sea.^ 

1 See page 245. 2 See page 300. ' See page 244. * See the map, page 301. 



The Reign of Justinian 331 

The conquests of Justinian proved to be less enduring than 
his work as a lawgiver. Until his reign the sources of Roman 
law, including the legislation of the popular assem- codification 
bHes, the decrees of the Senate, the edicts of the of Roman 
praetors and emperors, and the decisions of learned 
lawyers, had never been completely collected and arranged in 
scientific form. Justinian appointed a commission of legal 
scholars to perform this task. The result of their labors, in 
which the emperor himself assisted, was the pubhcation of the 
Corpus Juris Civilis, the ''Body of Civil Law." Under this 
form the Roman principles of jurisprudence have become the 
foundation of the legal systems of modern Italy, Spain, France, 
Germany, and other European countries. These principles 
even influenced the Common law of England, which has been 
adopted by the United States.^ The Corpus Juris Civilis, 
because of this widespread influence, is justly regarded as one 
of Rome's most important gifts to the world. 

Justinian's claim to the title of ''Great" rests also on his civi- 
lizing work. He wished to restore the prosperity, as well as 
the provinces, of the empire. During his reign civilizing 
roads, bridges, and aqueducts were repaired, and work of 
commerce and agriculture were encouraged. It 
was at this time that two Christian missionaries brought from 
China the eggs of the silkworm, and introduced the manu- 
facture of silk in Europe. As a builder Justinian gained special 
fame. The edifices which he caused to be raised throughout 
his dominions included massive fortifications on the exposed 
frontiers, splendid palaces, and many monasteries and churches. 
The most noteworthy monument to his piety is the church 
of Sancta Sophia ^ at Constantinople, now used as a Moham- 
medan mosque. By his conquests, his laws, and his buildings, 
Justinian revived for a time the waning glory of imperial 
Rome. 

1 Roman law still prevails in the province of Quebec and the state of Louis- 
iana, territories formerly under French control, and in all the Spanish-American 
countries. 

2 In Greek, Hagia Sophia, "Holy Wisdom." 



332 Eastern Europe in the Early Middle Ages 

116. The Empire and its Asiatic Foes 

The Roman Empire in the East did not long remain at the 
pinnacle of greatness to which Justinian had raised it. His 
After conquests, indeed, weakened rather than strength- 

Justinian ened the empire, since now there were much more 
extensive frontiers to defend. Within half a century after his 
death it was attacked both in Europe and in Asia. The Lom- 



I j Lands of the Eastern emperors 

1 1 before 960 A.D. 

I 1 The lands conquered between 

I ^ 960 A.D. and 1045 A.D. 




20° Longitude 25° East from 30° Greenwich 35° 



The Roman Empire in the East 

DURING THE TeNTH AND ELEVENTH CENTURIES 



bards ^ soon seized Italy, and in the East the Persians renewed 
their contest against the Roman power. 

The struggle with the Persians was an inheritance from earher 
times.2 Under an ambitious king, Chosroes II, the Persians 

overran all the Asiatic provinces of the empire. 

A savior arose, however, in the person of the 
Roman emperor, HeracHus (610-641 a.d.). His briUiant 
campaigns against Chosroes partook of the nature of a crusade, 
or "holy war," for the Persians had violated the Holy Sepulcher 
at Jerusalem and had stolen away the True Cross, the most 



Persians 



1 See page 302. 



2 See page 219. 



The Empire and its Asiatic Foes 333 

sacred relic of Christendom. Heraclius recovered all his prov- 
inces, but only at the cost of a bloody struggle which drained 
them of men and money and helped to make them fall easy 
victims to foes still more terrible than the Persians. These were 
the Arabs. 

Heraclius had not closed his reign before he saw all his vic- 
tories undone by the advance of the Arabs. The first wave of 
invasion tore away Syria and Egypt from the 
empire, penetrated Asia Minor, and reached the 
shores of the Bosporus. Repulsed before the walls of Con- 
stantinople, the Arabs carried their arms to the West and seized 
North Africa, Spain, part of southern Italy, and the Mediter- 
ranean islands. Asia Minor and the Balkan peninsula still 
held out, however, and during the tenth century a hne of able 
rulers at Constantinople succeeded in winning back some of 
their lost provinces. 

During the eleventh century the empire had to face new 
enemies. These were the Seljuk Turks,^ fierce nomads from 
the steppes beyond the Caspian. After their g i- u t 
conversion to Mohammedanism, they swept with 
irresistible force through the East and conquered nearly 
all Asia Minor. The ruin of this country, in earher ages one 
of the most populous and flourishing regions of the world, dates 
from its occupation by the Seljuks. To resist their further 
advance the Roman emperor sought in 1095 a.d. the help of 
the Christians of Europe. His appeals for aid resulted in the 
First Crusade, with which a new chapter of medieval history 
began.2 

Thus, for more than five centuries after Justinian, the Roman 
Empire in the East was engaged in a long struggle with the 
foes — Persians, Arabs, and Seljuk Turks — which ■^^j.j^ ^^ ^j^^ 
successively attacked its dominions. By its stub- empire in 
born resistance of the advance of the invaders 
the old empire protected the young states of Europe from attack, 
until they grew strong enough to meet and repulse the hordes 
of Asia. This service to civilization was not less important 

1 So named from one of their leaders. ^ See chapter xx. 



334 Eastern Europe in the Early Middle Ages 

than that which had been performed by Greece and Rome in 
their contests with the Persians and the Carthaginians. 



117. The Empire and its Foes in Europe 

The troubled years after Justinian's death also witnessed 

the beginning of the Slavic ^ settlements in southeastern 

Europe. The Slavs belonged to the Indo-European 
Slavs 111 ^ ,...,. . ^ , 

race, but had not progressed m civinzation as tar 

as the Germans. Their cradle land seems to have been in 
western Russia, whence they slowly spread to the Baltic, the 
Elbe, and the Danube. We have already mentioned the cam- 
paigns which Charlemagne and Henry the Fowler waged against 
them.^ The emperors at Constantinople were less successful in 
resisting that branch of the Slavs which tried to occupy the 
Balkan peninsula. After crossing the Danube, the Slavs pressed 
on farther and farther, until they reached the southern extremity 
of ancient Greece. They avoided the cities, but formed peasant 
communities in the open country, where they readily mingled 
with the inhabitants. Their descendants have remained in 
the Balkan peninsula to this day. The inhabitants of modern 
Serbia ^ are Slavs, and even in the Greeks there is a considerable 
strain of Slavic blood. 

The Bulgarians, a people akin to the Huns and Avars, made 
their appearance south of the lower Danube in the seventh 

century. For more than three hundred years 
Bulgarians 

these barbarians, brutal, fierce, and cruel, were a 

menace to the empire. At one time they threatened Constan- 
tinople and even killed a Roman emperor, whose skull was 
converted into a drinking cup to grace their feasts. The Bul- 
garians settled in the region which now bears their name and 
gradually adopted the speech and customs of the Slavs. Modern 
Bulgaria is essentially a Slavic state. 

1 The word slova means "speech" ; the Slavs are those who speak the same 
language. 

2 See pages 309, 315. 

' A more accurate designation than Servia. Originally, all Slavic peoples 
called themselves Serbs. 



The Empire and its Foes in Europe 335 

The empire was attacked in southeastern Europe by still 
other barbarians, among whom were the Russians. This 
Slavic people, led by chieftains from Sweden, 
descended the Dnieper and Dniester rivers and, 
crossing the Black Sea, appeared before the walls of Con- 
stantinople. Already, in the tenth century, that city formed 
the goal of Russian ambitions. The invaders are said to have 
made four attempts to plunder its treasures. Though unsuc- 
cessful, they compelled the emperors from time to time to pay 
them tribute. 

Christianity reached the invaders of the Balkan peninsula 
from Constantinople. The Serbians, Bulgarians, and Russians 
were converted in the ninth and tenth centuries, ^^j.^^ ^^ ^j^^ 
With Christianity they received the use of letters empire in 
and some knowledge of Roman lav/ and methods "^°p® 
of government. Constantinople was to them, henceforth, such 
a center of religion and culture as Rome was to the Germans. 
By becoming the teacher of the vast Slavic peoples of the 
Balkan peninsula and European Russia, the empire performed 
another important service to civiHzation. 

118. Byzantine Civilization 

The Roman Empire in the East, though often menaced by 
barbarian foes, long continued to be the leading European power. 
Its highest degree of prosperity was reached be- strength 
tween the middle of the ninth and the middle of and wealth 
the eleventh century. The provinces in Asia ° ^ empire 
Minor and the Balkan peninsula produced a vast annual 
revenue, much of which went for defense. It was necessary to 
maintain a large, well-disciplined army, great fleets and engines 
of war, and the extensive fortifications of Constantinople and 
the frontier cities. Confronted by so many dangers, the empire ' 
could hope to survive only by making itself a strong military 
state. 

The merchant ships of Constantinople, during the earHer part 
of the Middle Ages, carried on most of the commerce of the 



336 Eastern Europe in the Early Middle Ages 

Mediterranean and the Black Sea. The products of Byzantine 
industry, including silks, embroideries, mosaics, enamels, and 
Commerce nietal work, were exchanged at that city for the 
and spices, drugs, and precious stones of the East, 

m ustry Byzantine wares also found their way into Italy 

and France and, by way of the Russian rivers, reached the 
heart of eastern Europe. Russia, in turn, furnished Con- 
stantinople with large quantities of honey, wax, fur, wool, 
grain, and slaves. A traveler of the twelfth century well 
described the city as a metropolis ''common to all the world, 
without distinction of country or religion." 

Many of the Roman emperors from Justinian onward were 
great builders. Byzantine architecture, seen especially in the 
Character of churches, became a leading form of art. Its most 
Byzantine striking feature is the dome, which replaces the 
" flat, wooden roof used in the basilican^ churches 

of Italy. The exterior of a Byzantine church is plain and unim- 
posing, but the interior is adorned on a magnificent scale. The 
eyes of the worshiper are dazzled by the walls faced with marble 
slabs of variegated colors, by the columns of pohshed marble, 
jasper, and porphyry, and by the brilliant mosaic pictures of 
gilded glass. The entire impression is one of richness and 
splendor. Byzantine artists, though mediocre painters and 
sculptors, excelled, in all kinds of decorative work. Their 
carvings in wood, ivory, and metal, together with their em- 
broideries, enamels, and miniatures, enjoyed a high reputation 
throughout medieval Europe. 

Byzantine art, from the sLxth century to the present time, 
has exerted a wide influence. Sicily, southern Italy, Rome, 
Influence of Ravenna, and Venice contain many examples of 
Byzantine Byzantine churches. ItaHan painting in the 
*^ Middle Ages seems to have been derived directly 

from the mosaic pictures of the artists of Constantinople. Russia 
received not only its rehgion but also its art from Constantinople. 
The great Russian churches of Moscow and Petrograd follow 
Byzantine models. Even the Arabs, in spite of their hostihty 

I See page 284. 



Byzantine Civilization 337 

to Christianity, borrowed Byzantine artists and profited by 
their services. The Mohammedan mosques of Damascus, 
Cairo, and Cordova, both in methods of construction and 
in details of ornamentation, reproduce Byzantine styles. 

The Hbraries and museums of Constantinople preserved 
classical learning. In the flourishing schools of that city the 
wisest men of the day taught philosophy, law. Literature 
medicine, and science to thousands of students, and 
The professors figured among the important ®^""^s 
persons of the court: official documents mention the "prince 
of the rhetoricians" and the "consul of the philosophers." 
Many of the emperors showed a taste for scholarship; one of 
them was said to have been so devoted to study that he almost 
forgot to reign. When kings in western Europe were so 
ignorant that they could with difficulty scrawl their names, 
eastern emperors wrote books and composed poetry. It is 
true that Byzantine scholars were erudite rather than original. 
Impressed by the great treasures of knowledge about them, 
they found it difficult to strike out into new, unbeaten paths. 
Most students were content to make huge collections of 
extracts and notes from the books which antiquity had 
bequeathed to them. Even this task was useful, however, 
for their encyclopedias preserved much information which 
otherwise would have been lost. During the Middle Ages the 
East cherished the productions of classical learning, until the 
time came when the West was ready to receive them and to 
profit by them, 

119. Constantinople 

The heart of Byzantine civilization was Constantinople. 
The city lies on a peninsula between the Sea of Marmora and 
the spacious harbor called the Golden Horn, position of 
Washed on three sides by the water and, like Constanti- 
Rome, enthroned upon seven hills, Constantinople °^^ ® 
occupies a site justly celebrated as the noblest in the world. It 
stands in Europe, looks on Asia, and commands 'the entrance 
to both the Mediterranean and the Black Sea. As a sixteenth 



33^ Eastern Europe in the Early Middle Ages 



century writer pointed out, Constantinople "is a city which 
Nature herself has designed to be the mistress of the world." 




Vicinity of Constantinople 

The position of Constantinople made it difficult to attack 
but easy to defend. To surround the city an enemy would 
Constanti- ^^^^ ^^ ^^ Strong upon both land and sea. A 
nople as a hostile army, advancing through Asia Minor, 
found its further advance arrested by the long, 
winding channel which the Bosporus, the Sea of Marmora, 
and the Dardanelles combine to form. A hostile fleet, coming 
by way of the Mediterranean or the Black Sea, faced grave 
difficulties in attempting to penetrate the narrow strait into 
which this waterway contracts at each extremity. On the 
landward side the line of defense was so short — about four 
miles in width — that it could be strongly fortified and held 
by a small force against large numbers. During the Middle 
Ages the rear of the city was protected by two huge walls, the 
remains of which are still visible. Constantinople, in fact, 
was all but impregnable. Though each new century brought a 
fresh horde of enemies, it resisted siege after siege and long 




Exterior 




Interior 

SANCTA SOPHIA, CONSTANTINOPLE 

Built by Justinian and dedicated on Christmas Day, 538 a.d The main buMing is 
roofed over by a great central dome, 107 feet in diameter and 179 feet m height. After the 
Ottoman Turks turned the church into a mosque, a minaret was erected at each of the four 
exterior angles. The outside of Sancta Sophia is somewhat disappomtmg, but the interior, 
with its walls and columns of polished marble, granite, and porphyry is magnificent. The 
mosaic figures on the walls have been covered up, but not destroyed, by the Turks. 



Constantinople 



339 



continued to be the capital of what was left of the Roman 
Empire.^ 

Constantine had laid out his new city on an imposing scale 
and adorned it with the choicest treasures of art from Greece, 
Italy, and the Orient. Fourteen churches, four- Monuments 
teen palaces, eight pubhc baths, and several of Con- 
triumphal arches are assigned to the founder of ^*^"*^"°P® 
the city. His most 
stately building was 
the Hippodrome, an 
immense structure 
devoted to chariot 
races and all sorts 
of popular gather- 
ings. There new 
emperors, after their 
consecration in 
Sancta Sophia, were 
greeted by their sub- 
jects; there civic |iiii|Tif 
festivals were held; W[ "^^ 
and there the last .^fel 




Roman triumphs 
were celebrated. 
Theodosius the 
Great built the 
principal gate of 





■. jS^P 



The Three Existing Monuments of the 
Hippodrome, Constantinople 

These three monuments preserve for us the exact line of 
• 1 1 ^^^ ^°^^ wall, or spina, which divided the race course and 

V^OnStantmople, tne around which the charioteers drove their furious steeds. The 
<'QQj(^gj^ Gate " as obelisk was transported from Egypt by Constantine. Be- 
tween it and the crumbling tower beyond is a pillar of three 
It was CaileQ, Oy brazen serpents, originally set up at Delphi by the Greeks, 
which the emperors ^^^^^ ^^^ battle of Plataea. On this trophy were engraved 
. . the names of the various states that sent soldiers to fight the 

made their solemn Persians. 

entry into the city. 

But it was Justinian who, after Constantine, did most to adorn 

1 Of the eight sieges to which Constantinople was subjected in medieval times, 
only two succeeded. In 1204 a.d. it was captured by the Venetians and in 1453 
A.D., by the Ottoman Turks. See pages 477 and 492. 



340 Eastern Europe in the Early Middle Ages 

the new capital by the Bosporus. He is said to have erected 
more than twenty-five churches in Constantinople and its 
suburbs. Of these, the most beautiful is the world-famed 
cathedral dedicated by Justinian to ''Holy Wisdom." On 
its completion the emperor declared that he had surpassed 




Valley of 



Mosgj 
■^ Eyouby 

CosniiJion 
(Ey^^ub) 

Palace ofBlacherijae 
\ Palace \of the' 
N Hebdonion 
( Tekf our Seraj.")"iirerA-o 
Gate or}JPorta?'i 
Charisiu^ Phanariot 
\v Quarter 



■ ■.mm Wall of old{Greek)Byzantium.(?) 

I Wall of ConatarUine(^30) 

jyj^.iv Double Wall of Theodosius II(i08-^0) 
-l-l-i-i Wall of HeracUii8(626-6l,l) 

Wall of mediaeval Galata 

innnn fVail ^f t/^g jy^w Seraglio 



4^ ,. ^^ .u A .^^^tt^Aj^JiK. * 'Christ Tower >> 
fXZnMTcn of the Apostles x<?r ^riT i Tfr7cvr A T^^ 
'. o/(Sf.(M>sque of Mohammed <^^l^tnrk^ «^'" 



M 

Dolma X^j-./*-^ Palace 
fn^-^/lieshicktash 



Fundouki 
(Aianteion) -fi 

Tophane j, f / | 









calU^ SCUTARI >, 
-„ ,^ 'roi^}^^ (CHRYSOPOLIS) 
fl^i^'Tri's'^'' of I^eandn 



ew Seraglio 
'Seragll6-V5 rj-' Cl^AcjopcIis of Greek 
lim^f Constantin%;„ >4:i^ Byzantium 

Hippodrome,./2 ^f'Bucoleon Palace 
^an) '/Irpperial 
Palace 

SEA OF MAE MORA 



GolHen Castle of the Seven Towers 
Gatp ./(Yedi Kouleb) 

""^ CONSTANTINOPLE 

Scale 1:125000 
U 1 lUMile? 




KADIKEUI 

(CHALCEDON, 



Solomon's Temple. Though nearly fourteen hundred years 

old and now defaced by vandal hands, it remains perhaps the 

supreme achievement of Christian architecture. 

Excepting Athens and Rome, no other European city can 

lay claim to so long and so important a history as Constantinople. 
. Her day came after theirs was done. Throughout 

significance the Middle Ages Constantinople remained the 
most important city in Europe. When London, 
Paris, and Vienna were small and mean towns, 

Constantinople was a large and flourishing metropolis. The 

renown of the city penetrated even into barbarian lands. The 



of Con- 
stantinople 



Constantinople 341 

Scandinavians called it Micklegarth, the ''Great City"; the 
Russians knew of it as Tsarigrad, the ''City of the Caesars." 
But its own people best described it as the "City guarded 
by God." Here, for more than eleven centuries, was the 
capital of the Roman Empire and the center of Eastern 
Christendom. 

Studies 

I. Compare the area of the Roman Empire in the East in 395 a.d. with its 
area in 800 A. D. (maps between pages 222-223 and facing page 306) . 2. Compare 
the respective areas in 800 a.d. of the Roman Empire in the East and Charlemagne's 
empire. 3. On the map, page 338, locate Adrianople, Gallipoli, Nicaea, the Bos- 
porus, Sea of Marmora, and Dardanelles. 4. Who were Belisarius Chosroes II, 
and Heraclius? 5. In your opinion which of the two rival imperial Unes after 
800 A.D. had the better title to represent ancient Rome? 6. Why has Justinian 
been called the "lawgiver of civilization"? 7. Why was it necessary to codify 
Roman law? Is the EngUsh Common law codified? 8. Compare the work of 
Alexandrian and Byzantine scholars in preserving learning. 9. "The Byzantines 
were the teachers of the Slavs, as the Romans were of the Germans." Comment 
on this statement. 10. The Byzantine Empire was once called "a gigantic mass 
of mould, a thousand years old." Does this seem a fair description? 11. "The 
history of medieval civilization is, in large measure, the history of the Roman 
Empire in the East." Comment on this statement. 12. Show that Constanti- 
nople formed "a natural citadel." 13. On the map, page 340, trace the successive 
walls of Constantinople. 



CHAPTER XV 

THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH IN THE EAST AND IN THE 
WEST TO 1054 A.D.^ 

120. Development of the Christian Church 

A preceding chapter has traced the early history of Chris- 
tianity. We there saw how the new reUgion appeared in the 
The Catholic Orient, how it spread rapidly over the Roman 
Church Empire, how it engaged with the imperial govern- 

ment in the long confhct called the Persecutions, how the 
emperor Constantine, after his conversion, placed it on an 
equality with paganism, and how at the end of the fourth cen- 
tury the emperor Theodosius made it the state rehgion. By 
this time the Church had become a great and powerful organiza- 
tion, with fixed laws, with a graded system of officers, and with 
councils attended by clergy from all parts of the Roman world. 
To this organization the word Catholic, that is, '^universal," 
came to be appUed. Membership in the Cathohc Church, 
secured only by baptism, was believed to be essential to salva- 
tion. As St. Cyprian, bishop of Carthage, had said, ''He can 
no longer have God for his Father who has not the Church for 
his Mother." 

The first three centuries of Christianity witnessed the devel- 
opment of the episcopal system in the Church. Each pro- 
The vincial city had its bishop, assisted by priests 

episcopate g^j^^j deacons. An archbishop (sometimes called a 
metropoHtan) presided over the bishops of each province, and 
a patriarch had jurisdiction, in turn, over metropoUtans. This 
graded arrangement of ecclesiastical officers, from the lowest to 
the highest, helped to make the Church centrahzed and strong. 

1 Webster, Readings in Medieval and Modern History, chapter iii, "The Benedic- 
tine Rule"; chapter iv, "The ReestabUshment of Christianity m Britain"; chapter 
V, "St. Boniface, Apostle to the Germans." 

342 



Development of the Christian -Church 343 

It appears to have been modeled, almost unconsciously, on the 
government of the Roman Empire.^ 

The development of the patriarchate calls for special notice. 
At the time of the Council of Nicaea^ there were three patri- 
archs, namely, the bishops of Rome, Antioch, and The 
Alexandria. These cities ranked among the most Patriarchs 
important in the Roman world. It was only natural, therefore, 
that the churches estabHshed in them should be singled out for 
preeminence. Some years after the removal of the capital to 
Constantinople, the bishop of that imperial city was recognized 
as a patriarch at a general council of the Church. In the fifth 
century the bishop of Jerusalem received the same dignity. 
Henceforth there were five patriarchs — four in the East but 
only one in the West. 

The Christian Church was a very democratic organization. 
Patriarchs, archbishops, bishops, priests, and deacons were 
drawn from all ranks of life. No special training ciergy and 
at first was considered necessary to fit them for ^^^*y 
their duties, though the more celebrated ministers were often 
highly educated. To eke out their salaries the clergy sometimes 
carried on business as farmers and shopkeepers. Where, how- 
ever, a church had sufficient funds to support its bishop, his 
engagement in secular affairs was discouraged and finally 
prohibited. In the fourth century, as earlier, priests and bishops 
were generally married men. The sentiment in favor of celibacy 
for the clergy became very pronounced during the early Middle 
Ages, especially in the West, and led at length to the general 
abandonment of priestly marriage in those parts of Europe 
where papal influence prevailed. Distinctive garments for 
clergymen did not begin to come into use until the fifth century, 
when some of them began to don clothing of a more sober hue 

1 The correspondence may be indicated as follows: 

The Roman Empire The Christian Church 

City — Municipal officials. Bishop. 

Province — Governor. Archbishop, or Metropolitan. 

Diocese — Vicar. Patriarch. 

Prefecture — Prefect. (No corresponding division.) 
2 See page 235. 



344 The Christian Church in the East and West 

than was fashionable at the time. Clerical vestments were 

developed from two pieces of ancient Roman dress — the tunic 

and the toga.^ Thus the clergy were gradually separated from 

the people, or laity, by differences in dress, by their celibate 

lives, and by their abstention from worldly occupations. 

While the Church was perfecting her organization, she was 

also elaborating her doctrines. Theologians engaged in many 

„ . controversies upon such subjects as the connection 

Heresies 

of Christ with God and the nature of the Trinity. 

In order to obtain an authoritative expression of Christian 
opinion, councils of the higher clergy were held, at which the 
opposing views were debated and a decision was reached. The 
Council of Nicaea, which condemned Arianism, formed the first, 
and one of the most important, of these general gatherings of 
the Church. After the Church had once expressed itself on 
any matter of Christian belief, it was regarded as unlawful to 
maintain a contrary opinion. Those who did so were called 
heretics, and their teachings, heresies. The emperor Theodosius, 
whose severe laws finally shattered the ancient paganism,^ de- 
voted even more attention to stamping out heresies among his 
Christian subjects. He prohibited meetings of heretics, burned 
their books, and threatened them with death if they persisted 
in their pecuHar doctrines. During his reign a Spanish bishop 
and six of his partisans were executed for holding unorthodox 
beliefs. This was the beginning of the persecutions for heresy. 
As soon as Christianity had triumphed in the Roman Empire, 
thus becoming the religion of the rich and powerful as well as 
the religion of the poor and lowly, more attention 
was devoted to the conduct of worship. Magnif- 
icent church buildings were often erected. Their architects 
seem to have followed as models the basilicas, or pubHc halls, 
which formed so familiar a sight in Roman cities.^ Church 
interiors were adorned with paintings, mosaic pictures, images 
of saints and martyrs, and the figure of the cross. Lighted 
candles on the altars and the burning of fragrant incense lent 
an additional impressiveness to worship. Beautiful prayers 

1 See page 258. 2 See page 236. » See page 284. 



Development of the Christian Church 345 



Sunday 




Religious Music 



and hymns were composed. Some of the early Christian hymns, 
such as the Gloria in Excelsis and the Te Deum Laudamus, are 
still sung in our churches. Organs did not come into use until 
the seventh century, and 
then only in the West, 
but church bells, summon- 
ing the worshiper to divine 
service, early became 
attached to Christian edi- 
fices. 

The Christians from the 
start appear to have ob- 
served ''the first day of 
the week"^ in memory 
of Christ's resurrection. 
They attended 
pubHc worship 

on the Lord's Day, but From a window of the cathedral of Bourges, 

Otherwise did not rigidly iJ^^^"^"^ ^'^''""- ^^°^' ' ^^^^ "'""'' 
abstain from worldly 

business and amusements. The Jewish element in some 
churches, and especially in the East, was strong enough to 
secure an additional observance of Saturday as a w^eekly festival. 
Saturday long continued to be marked by religious assemblies 
and feasting, though not by any compulsory cessation of the 
ordinary occupations. During the fourth century Sunday, as 
the Lord's Day was now generally called, came more and more 
to be kept as a day of obligatory rest. Constantine's Sunday 
law 2 formed the first of a long series of imperial edicts im- 
posing the observance of that day as a legal duty. In this 
manner Sunday, like the Jewish Sabbath on the seventh 
day of the week, was dedicated wholly to the exercises of 
religion. 

The great yearly festivals of the Church gradually took shape 
during the early Christian centuries. The most important 

1 John, XX, I, 19; compare i Corinthians, xvi, 2. 

2 See page 235 and note i. 



346 The Christian Church in the East and West 

anniversary to be observed was Easter, in memory of the resur- 
rection of Christ. A period of fasting (Lent), 
which finally lasted forty days, preceded the 
festival. Whitsunday, or Pentecost, was celebrated on the 
fiftieth day after Easter.^ Two other festivals of later adoption 
were Christmas, the celebration of which was finally assigned 
to the 25th of December," and Epiphany (January 6), com- 
memorating the baptism of Christ. In course of time many 
other feasts and fasts, together with numerous saints' days, 
were added to the calendar of the " Christian Year." 



121. Eastern Christianity 

By the time of Constantine, Christianity had spread widely 
throughout the eastern half of the Roman Empire. Asia Minor 
Expansion of ^^^^ ^^^^ largely Christian. Thrace, Macedonia, 
Christianity Epirus, and Greece were all ecclesiastical prov- 
inces with their own metropolitans. Many 
Christians were found in Syria and Egypt. Churches also ex- 
isted in Mesopotamia and Arabia, and even beyond the bound- 
aries of the empire in Armenia and Persia. Between the time 
of Constantine and that of Justinian, Christianity continued 
to expand in the East, until the gospel had been carried to 
such distant regions as Abyssinia and India. 

Most of the Christian communities in the Orient owed alle- 
giance to the patriarchs of Constantinople, Jerusalem, Antioch, 
Union of ^^^ Alexandria. The Roman emperor, however, 

Church and was the supreme religious authority in the East. 
He felt it as much his duty to maintain the doc- 
trines and organization of Christianity as to preserve the im- 
perial dominions against foreign foes. Since he presided over 
the Church, there could be no real independence for its officers. 
Bishops, metropolitans, and patriarchs were in every respect 
subordinate to his will. This union of Church and State 
formed one of the most characteristic features of Christianity 
in the East. 

1 See Acts, ii, 1-4. « See page 22g, note i. 



Eastern Christianity 



347 



Nestorianism 



Eastern Christians, far more than those in the West, devoted 
themselves to theological speculations. Constantinople and 
the great HeUenistic Theological 
cities of Antioch and disputes; 
Alexandria contained 
many learned scholars who had pro- 
longed and heated arguments over 
subtle questions of belief. After 
the Arian controversy had been 
settled in the fourth century, other 
disputes concerning the true nature 
of Christ broke out. These gave 
rise to many heresies. 

The heresy known as Nestorian- 
ism, from Nestorius, a patriarch of 
Constantinople, spread 
w^idely in the East. 
Nestorian missionaries even pene- 
trated to India, China, and 
Mongolia. The churches which 
they established were numerous m 
and influential during the Middle 
Ages, but since then most of them 
have been destroyed by the Moham- 
medans. Members of this sect are 
still to be found, however, in east- 
ern lands. ^ 

After the formation of the Nes- 
torian and other heretical sects, the 
orthodox faith was preserved in the 
East only by the Greeks 
of Asia Minor and 
Europe. The Greek Church, which 
calls itself the "Holy Orthodox 
Church," for a time remained in unity with the Roman Church 

1 In modem India (Malabar) there are no less than 400,000 Syrian Christians 
who owe their reUgion to Nestorian missionaries. 




The Nestorian Monument 



Orthodoxy 



Evidence of Nestorian missions in 
China is afforded by the famous 
monument at Chang'an, province of 
Shensi. The stone, which was set 
up in 781 A.D., commemorates by an 
inscription in Chinese characters and 
the figure of a cross the introduction 
of Christianity into northwestern 
China. A replica of the Nestorian 
monument was taken to the United 
States in 1908 a.d. and was de- 
posited in the Metropolitan Museum 
of Art, New York. 



34^ The Christian Church in the East and West 



The Papacy 



in the West. The final separation of these two churches 
occurred in the eleventh century.^ 

122. Western Christianity: Rise of the Papacy 

Christianity in the West presented two sharp contrasts to 
eastern Christianity. In the first place, the great heresies 
which divided the East scarcely affected the West. 
In the second place, no union of Church and State 
existed among western Christians. Instead of acknowledging 

the religious supremacy of the 
emperor at Constantinople, they 
yielded obedience to the bishop of 
Rome, the head of the Roman 
Church. He is known to us as 
the pope, and his office is called 
the Papacy. We shall now in- 
quire how the popes secured their 
unchallenged authority over west- 
ern Christendom. 

A church in Rome must have 

been estabhshed at an early date, 

for it was to Roman 




Papal Arms 



According to the well-known pas- 
sage in Matthew (xvi, 19), Christ 
gave to St. Peter the "keys of the 
kingdom of heaven," with the power 
"to bind and to loose." These keys 
are always represented in the papal 
arms, together with the tiara or head- 
dress, worn by the popes on certain 
occasions. 



Rome an 

apostolic Christians that St. 

church 



Paul addressed one of 
the Epistles now preserved in the 
New Testament. St. Paul visited 
Rome, as we know from the Acts 
of the Apostles, and there he is 
said to have suffered martyrdom. 
Christian tradition, very ancient and very generally received, 
declares that St. Peter also labored in Rome, where he met a 
martyr's death, perhaps during the reign of the emperor 
Nero. To the early Christians, therefore, the Roman Church 
must have seemed in the highest degree sacred, for it had 
been founded by the two greatest apostles and had been 
nourished by their blood. 

1 See page 362. 



Western Christianity: Rise of 'Papacy 349 

Another circumstance helped to give the Roman Church a 
superior position in the West. It was a vigorous missionary 
church. Rome, the largest and most flourishing ^^^^ ^ 
city in the empire and the seat of the imperial "Mother- 
government, naturally became the center from ^ ^^^ 
which Christianity spread over the western provinces. Many of 
the early Christian communities planted in Spain, Gaul, 
and Africa owed their start to the missionary zeal of the 
Roman Church. To Rome, as the great "Mother-church," 
her daughters in western Europe would turn henceforth with 
reverence and affection; they would readily acknowledge her 
leading place among the churches; and they would seek her 
advice on disputed points of Christian belief or worship. 

The independence of the Roman Church also furthered its 
development. The bishop of Rome was the sole patriarch 
in the West, while in the East there were two, and ^j^^ Ro^an 
later four patriarchs, each exercising authority Church in- 
in religious matters. Furthermore, the removal ®^®" ®^* 
of the capital from Rome to Constantinople helped to free the 
Roman bishop from the close oversight of the imperial govern- 
ment. He was able, henceforth, to promote the interests of 
the church under his control without much interference on the 
part of the eastern emperor. 

Finally, it must be noted how much the development of the 
Roman Church was aided by its attitude on disputed questions 
of belief. While eastern Christendom was torn ^^^ Roman 
by theological controversies, the Church of Rome Church 
stood firmly by the Nicene Creed. ^ After the °^*^°d°^ 
Arian, Nestorian, and other heresies were finally condemned, 
orthodox Christians felt indebted to the Roman Church for 
its unwavering championship *of ''the faith once delivered to 
the saints." They were all the more ready, therefore, to 
defer to that church in matters of doctrine and to accept without 
question its spiritual authority. 

The claim of the Roman bishops to supremacy over the 
Christian world had a double basis. Certain passages in the 

1 See page 236. 



350 The Christian Church in the East and West 

New Testament, where St. Peter is represented as the rock 
on which the Church is buih, the pastor of the sheep and 
lambs of the Lord, and the doorkeeper of the kingdom of 
The Petrine heaven, appear to indicate that he was regarded 
supremacy by Christ as the chief of the Apostles. Further- 
more, a well-established tradition made St. Peter the founder 
of the Roman Church and its first bishop. It was then 
argued that he passed to his successors, the popes, all his 
rights and dignity. As St. Peter was the first among the 
Apostles, so the popes were to be the first among bishops. 
Such was the doctrine of the Petrine supremacy, expressed as 
far back as the second century, strongly asserted by many 
popes during the Middle Ages, and maintained to-day by the 
Roman Church. 

123. Growth of the Papacy 

Up to the middle of the fifth century about forty-five bishops 
had occupied St. Peter's chair at Rome. The most eminent 
Pontificate ^^ these was Leo the Great. When he became 
of Leo I, bishop, the Germans were overrunning the western 

' * provinces of the empire. The invaders professed 
the Arian faith, as we have seen, and often persecuted the 
orthodox Christians among whom they settled. At such a 
time, when the imperial power was growing weaker, faithful 
CathoUcs in the West naturally turned for support to the bishop 
of Rome. Leo became their champion against the barbarians. 
Tradition declares that he succeeded in diverting Attila from 
an attack on Rome, and when the Vandals sacked the city 
Leo also intervened to prevent its destruction. ^ 

After Leo, no important name occurs in the list of popes 
until we come to Gregory the Great. Gregory, as the son of 
Pontificate of ^ ^^^^ ^^^ distinguished Roman senator, enjoyed 
Gregory I, a good education in all the learning of the time. 
590-604 A.D. jj^ entered pubhc hfe and at an early age became 
prefect of Rome. But now, almost at the outset of his 
career, Gregory laid aside earthly ambition. He gave up his 
1 See pages 248-249. 



Growth of the Papacy 351 

honorable position and spent the fortune, inherited from his 
father, in the foundation of monasteries and the reUef of 
the poor. He himself became a monk, turned his palace 
at Rome into a monastery, and almost ruined his health 
by too great devotion to fasts and midnight vigils. Gregory's 
conspicuous talents, however, soon called him from retirement 
and led to his election as pope. 

The work of Gregory lay principally in two directions. As a 
statesman he did much to make the popes virtual sovereigns 
at Rome and in Italy. At this time the Italian Temporal 
peninsula, overrun by the Lombards and neglected power of 
by the eastern emperor, was in a deplorable con- ^^sory 
dition. The bishop of Rome seemed to be the only man who 
could protect the people and maintain order. Gregory had 
very great success in this task. He appointed governors of 
cities, issued orders to generals, drilled the Romans for military 
defense, and sent ambassadors to treat with the king of the 
Lombards. It was largely owing to Gregory's efforts that these 
barbarians were prevented from conquering central Italy. 

Gregory was no less eminent as a churchman. His writings 
and his personal influence greatly furthered the advancement 
of the Roman Church in the West. We find him Gregory's 
sternly repressing heresies wherever they arose, spiritual 
aiding the conversion of Arian Visigoths in Spain ^^ °" ^ 
and Arian Lombards in Italy, and sending out monks as 
missionaries to distant Britain. ^ He well deserved by these 
labors the title "Servant of the servants of God,"^ which he 
assumed, and which the popes after him have retained. The 
admiration felt for his character and abilities raised him, in 
later ages, to the rank of a saint. 

When Gregory the Great closed his remarkable career, the 
Papacy had reached a commanding place in western Christen- 
dom. To their spiritual authority the popes had Position of 
now begun to add some measure of temporal *^® Papacy 
power as rulers at Rome and in Italy. During the eighth 
century, as we have already learned,^ the alliance of the popes 

1 See page 322. 2 Serous seroorum Dei. s See pages 305-307. 



352 The Christian Church in the East and West 

and the Franks helped further to establish the Papacy as an 
ecclesiastical monarchy, ruling over both the souls and bodies 
of men. Henceforth it was to go forward from strength to 
strength. 

124. Monasticism 

The Papacy during the Middle Ages found its strongest 
supporters among the monks. By the time of Gregory the Great 
ipjjg monasticism ^ was well established in the Christian 

monastic Church. Its origin must be sought in the need, 

®^^"* often felt by spiritually-minded men, of withdraw- 

ing from the world — from its temptations and its transitory 
pleasures — to a life of sohtude, prayer, and religious contem- 
plation. Joined to this feeling has been the conviction that the 
soul may be purified by subduing the desires and passions of 
the body. Men, influenced by the monastic spirit, sought a 
closer approach to God. 

The monastic spirit in Christianity owed much to the example 
of its founder, who was himself unmarried, poor, and without a 
j.^j.j place ''where to lay his head." Some of Christ's 

Christian teachings, taken literally, also helped to exalt the 

monasticism ^qj-^j^ ^f ^-j^g monastic Kfe. At a very early period 
there were Christian men and women who abstained from 
marriage, flesh meat, and the use of wine, and gave themselves 
up to prayer, religious exercises, and works of charity. This 
they did in their homes, without abandoning their families and 
human society. 

Another monastic movement began about the middle of the 

third century, when many Christians in Egypt withdrew into 

„, , . the desert to live as hermits. St. Anthony, who 

The hermits , , ,, ■, , r ^i • • i • i 

has been called the first Christian hermit, passed 

twenty years in a deserted fort on the east bank of the Nile. 

During all this tittie he never saw a human face. Some of the 

hermits, believing that pain and suffering had a spiritual value, 

went to extremes of self-mortification. They dwelt in wells, 

tombs, and on the summits of pillars, deprived themselves of 

1 From a Greek word which means "living alone." 



Monasticism 



353 



necessary food and sleep, wore no clothing, and neglected to 
bathe or to care for the body in any way. Other hermits, who 
did not practice such austerities, spent all day or all night in 
prayer. The examples of these recluses found many imitators 
in Syria and other eastern lands. ^ 

A Hfe shut off from all contact with one's fellows is difficult 
and beyond the strength of ordinary men. The mere human 
need for social intercourse gradually brought the Rule of 
hermits together, at first in small groups and then ^*- ^^^^ 
in larger communities, or monasteries. The next step was to 




St. Daniel the Stylite on his Column 

From a Byzantine miniature in the Vatican. 

give the scattered monasteries a common organization and 
government. Those in the East gradually adopted the regu- 
lations which St. Basil, a leading churchman of the fourth cen- 
tury, drew up for the guidance of the monks under his direction. 
St. Basil's Rule, as it is called, has remained to the present 
time the basis of monasticism in the Greek Church. 
The monastic system, which early gained an entrance into 

1 See Tennyson's poem, St. Simeon Stylites. 



354 



The Christian Church in the East and West 



St. Benedict 



r-M 



western Christendom, looked to St. Benedict as its organizer. 
While yet a young man, St. Benedict had sought to 
escape from the vice about him by retiring to a cave 
in the Sabine hills near Rome. Here he lived for three years 
as a hermit, shutting himself off from all human intercourse, 

wearing a hair 
shirt, and rolling 
in beds of thistles 
to subdue "the 
flesh." St. Bene- 
dict's experience 
of the hermit's 
life convinced 
him that there 
was a surer and 
better road to 
religious peace of 
mind. His fame as 
a holy man had 
attracted to him 
many disciples, 
and these he now 
began to group in 
monastic communities under his own supervision. St. Bene- 
dict's most important monastery was at Monte Cassino, midway 
between Rome and Naples. It became the capital of monasti- 
cism in the West. 

To control the monks of Monte Cassino St. Benedict framed 
a Rule, or constitution, which was modeled in some respects 
Rule of St. upon the earlier Rule of St. Basil. The monks 
formed a sort of corporation, presided over by an 
abbot,^ who held office for life. To the abbot 
every candidate for admission took the vow of obedience. 
Any man, rich or poor, noble or peasant, might enter the mon- 
astery, after a year's probation; having once joined, however, 




Plan of Kirkstall Abbey, Yorkshire 



Benedict, 
529 (?) A.D 



1 From a Syrian word, abba, meaning 
called an abbey. 



■father." Hence a monastery was often 



I 



Life and Work of the Monks 355 

he must remain a monk for the rest of his days. The monks 
were to hve under strict discipline. They could not own any 
property; they could not go beyond the monastery walls with- 
out the abbot's consent; they could not even receive letters 
from home; and they were sent to bed early. A violation 
of the regulations brought punishment in the shape of private 
admonitions, exclusion from common prayer, and, in extreme 
cases, expulsion. 

The Rule of St. Benedict came to have the same wide influ- 
ence in the West which that of St. Basil exerted in the East. 
Gregory the Great established it in many places spread of 

in Italy, Sicily, and England. During Charle- the Bene- 

, . ., J iT. 1 r r dictine Rule 

magne s reign it was made the only lorm of monas- 

ticism throughout his dominions. By the tenth century the 

Rule prevailed everywhere in western Europe.^ 

125. Life and Work of the Monks 

St. Benedict sought to draw a sharp line between the monastic 
life and that of the outside world. Hence he required that, 
as far as possible, each monastery should form an a monastic 
independent, self-supporting community whose community 
members had no need of going beyond its limits for anything. 
In course of time, as a monastery increased in wealth and number 
of inmates, it might come to form an enormous establishment, 
covering many acres and presenting within its massive walls 
the appearance of a fortified town. 

The principal buildings of a Benedictine monastery of the 
larger sort were grouped around an inner court, called a cloister. 
These included a church, a refectory, or dining jj^^ monas- 
room, with the kitchen and buttery near it, a tery buUd- 
dormitory, where the monks slept, and a chapter *^^^ 
house, where they transacted business. There was also a 
library, a school, a hospital, and a guest house for the reception 
of strangers, besides barns, bakeries, laundries, workshops, 

1 Other monastic orders arose during the later Middle Ages (see pages 44Q, 452), 
but the Benedictines still exist, chiefly in Austria and Italy. Their order was intro- 
duced into the United States during the nineteenth century. 



356 The Christian Church in the East and West 

and storerooms for provisions. Beyond these buildings lay 
vegetable gardens, orchards, grain fields, and often a mill, if' 
the monastery was built on a stream. The high wall and ditch, 
usually surrounding a monastery, shut it off from outsiders 
and in time of danger protected it against attack. 




Abbey of Saint-Germain des Pres, Paris 

This celebrated monastery was founded in the sixth century. Of the orig- 
inal buDdings only the abbey church remains. The illustration shows the 
monastery as it was in 1361 a.d., with walls, towers, drawbridge, and moat. 
Adjoining the church were the cloister, the refectory, and the dormitory. 

St. Benedict defined a monastery as "a school for the service 
of the Lord." The monks under his Rule occupied themselves 
Monastic with a regular round of worship, reading, and 

occupations manual labor. Each day was divided into seven 
sacred offices, beginning and ending with services in the mon- 
astery church. The first service came usually about two 
o'clock in the morning; the last, just as evening set in, before 



Life and Work of the Monks 



357 




the monks retired to rest. In addition to their attendance at 
church, the monks spent several hours in reading from the 
Bible, private prayer, and meditation. For most of the day, 
however, they worked 
hard with their hands, 
doing the necessary wash- 
ing and cooking for the 
monastery, raising the 
necessary supplies of 
vegetables and grain, and 
performing all the other 
tasks required to main- 
tain a large establish- 
ment. This emphasis on 
labor, as a religious duty, 
was a characteristic feat- 
ure of western monasti- 
cism. "To labor is to 
pray" became a favorite 
motto of the Benedictines.^ 

It is clear that life in 
a Benedictine monastery appealed to many different kinds 
of people in the Middle Ages. Those of a spiritual turn 
of mind found in the monastic life the op- Attractive- 
portunity of giving themselves wholly to God. ness of the 
Studious and thoughtful persons, with no dispo- °^°°^^*^<^ ^^^® 
sition for an active career in the world, naturally turned 
to the monastery as a secure retreat. The friendless and 
the disgraced often took refuge within its walls. Many a 
troubled soul, to whom the trials of this world seemed unen- 
durable, sought to escape from them by seeking the peaceful 
shelter of the cloister. 

The civilizing influence of the Benedictine monks during the 
early Middle Ages can scarcely be over-emphasized. A monas- 
tery was often at once a model farm, an inn, a hospital, a 
school, and a library. By the careful cultivation of their lands. 

1 Lahorare est orare. 



A Moi^K Copyist 

From a manuscript in the British Museum 
London. 



358 The Christian Church in the East and West 

the monks set an example of good farming wherever they 
The monks settled. They entertained pilgrims and travelers, 
as civilizers g^|- ^ period when western Europe was almost 
destitute of inns. They performed many works of charity, 
feeding the hungry, healing the sick who were brought to their 
doors, and distributing their medicines freely to those who 
needed them. In their schools they trained both boys who 
wished to become priests and those who intended to lead active 
lives in the world. The rnonks, too, were the only scholars 
of the age. By copying the manuscripts of classical authors, 
they preserved valuable books that would otherwise have been 
lost. By keeping records of the most striking events of their 
time, they acted as chroniclers of medieval history. To all 
these services must be added the work of the monks as mis- 
sionaries to the heathen peoples of Europe. 

126. Spread of Christianity over Europe 

Almost all Europe had been won to Christianity by the end 
of the eleventh century. In the direction of this great mis- 
sionary campaign the Roman Church took the 
Church and leading part.^ The officers of her armies were 
the bar- zealous popes, bishops, and abbots; her private 

soldiers were equally zealous monks, priests, and 
laymen. Pagan Rome had never succeeded in making a com- 
plete and permanent conquest of the barbarians. Christian 
Rome, however, was able to bring them all under her spiritual 
sway. 

Christianity first reached the Germanic invaders in its Arian^ 
form. Visigoths, Ostrogoths, Vandals, Burgundians, and Lom- 
Recon version ^ards were all Arians. The Roman Church 
of the Arian regarded them as heretics and labored with success 

ermans ^^ reconvert them. This work was at last com- 

pleted when the Lombards, in the seventh century, accepted the 
CathoHc faith. 

The Franks and the Anglo-Saxons, whose kingdoms were to 

1 For the missionary work of Celtic Christians see page 323 and note i. 

2 See page 236, 




GROWTH OF CHRISTIANITY 
FROM THE FIFTH TO THE FOURTEENTH CENTURY 

I Extent of Christianity about 400 A. D, C 



Z] Area Christianized 400-800 A. D. 
U Area Christianized 800-1100 A. D 



] Mohammedanism is 
shown by white bands 

i Division between the 
Greek and Roman Churches 



J Area Christianized 1100-1300 A. D. 

Boundaries (in 622 A.D.)of the patriarchates of Rome, Constantinople, 
Antioch, Jerusalem and Alexandria 



Spread of Christianity over Europe 359 

develop into the chief states of medieval Europe, adopted 

from the outset the Catholic form of Christianity. 

The conversion of the Franks provided the Roman Anglo-Saxons 

Church with its strongest and most faithful converted to 

adherents among the Germanic tribes.^ The con- Catholicism 

version of Anglo-Saxon Britain by Augustine and 

his monks, followed later by the spread of Roman Catholicism 

in Ireland and Scotland, firmly united the British Isles to the 

Papacy.^ Thus Rome during the Middle Ages came to be 

the one center of church life for the peoples of western 

Europe. 

An Anglo-Saxon monk, St. Boniface, did more than any 
other missionary to carry Christianity to the remote tribes 
of Germany. Like Augustine in England, St. 
Boniface was sent by the pope, w^ho created him and the con- 
a missionary bishop and ordered him to "carry T^^^^^^ °^ 
the word of God to unbelievers." St. Boniface 
also enjoyed the support of the Prankish rulers, Charles Martel 
and Pepin the Short. Thanks to their assistance this intrepid 
monk w^as able to penetrate into the heart of Germany. Here 
he labored for nearly forty years, preaching, baptizing, and 
founding numerous churches, monasteries, and schools. His 
boldness in attacking heathenism is illustrated by the story 
of how he cut down with his own hands a certain oak tree, much 
reverenced by the natives of Hesse as sacred to the god Woden, 
and out of its wood built a chapel dedicated to St. Peter. 
St. Boniface crowned a lifetime of missionary labor with a 
martyr's death, probably in 754 a.d. His work was continued 
by Charlemagne, who forced the Saxons to accept Christianity 
at the point of the sword.^ All Germany at length became 
a Christian land, devoted to the Papacy. 

Roman Catholicism not only spread to Celtic and Germanic 
peoples, but it also gained a foothold among the Slavs. Both 
Henry the Fowler and Otto the Great attempted Conversion 
to Christianize the Slavic tribes between the Elbe °^ *^® ^^^^^ 
and the Vistula, by locating bishoprics in their territory. The 

1 See pages 304-305. « See pages 322-325. 3 See page 308. 



360 The Christian Church in the East and West 

work of conversion encountered many setbacks and did not 
reach completion until the middle of the twelfth century. 
The most eminent missionaries to the Slavs were Cyril and 
Methodius. These brother-monks were sent from Constan- 
tinople in 863 A.D. to convert the Moravians, who formed 
a kingdom on the eastern boundary of Germany. Seeing 
their great success as missionaries, the pope invited them to 
Rome and secured their consent to an arrangement which 
brought the Moravian Christians under the control of the 
Papacy.^ From Moravia Christianity penetrated into Bohemia 
and Poland. These countries still remain strongholds of the 
Roman Church. The Serbians and Russians, as we have 
learned,^ received Christianity by way of Constantinople and 
so became adherents of the Greek Church. 

Roman Catholicism gradually spread to most of the remaining 
peoples of Europe. The conversion of the Norwegians and 

„. , Swedes was well advanced by the middle of the 

Final exten- n^^ sr tt • 

sion of eleventh century. The Magyars, or Hungarians, 

Roman accepted Christianity at about the same date. 

Catholicism _,, , . 

The kmg of Hungary was such a devout 

Catholic that in the year 1000 a.d. the pope sent to him a 
golden crown and saluted him as ''His Apostolic Majesty." 
The last parts of heathen Europe to receive the message of 
the gospel were the districts south and east of the Baltic, 
occupied by the Prussians, Lithuanians, and Finns. Their con- 
version took place between the twelfth and fourteenth centuries. 

127. Separation of Eastern and Western Christianity 

Before the Christian conquest of Europe was finished, Chris- 
tianity had divided into two great communions — the Greek 
Church and the Roman Church. Their separation was a long, 
slow process, arising from the deep-seated differences between 
East and West. Though Rome had carried her conquering 

1 Cyril and Methodius were canonized by Pope Leo XIII in 1881 a.d. A millen- 
ial celebration of the two apostles was held in 1863 a.d. by the people of Moravia 
and Bohemia. 

2 See page 335. The Bulgarians also got their Christianity from Constantinople 
in the ninth century. 



Eastern and Western Christianity 361 

arms throughout the Mediterranean basin, all the region east 

of the Adriatic was imperfectly Romanized.^ It Divergence 

remained Greek in language and culture, and of East and 

tended, as time went on, to grow more and more 

unlike the West, which was truly Roman. The founding of 

Constantinople and the transference of the capital from the 

banks of the Tiber to the shores of the Bosporus still further 

widened the breach between the two halves of the Roman 

world. After the Germans established their kingdoms in Italy, 

Spain, Gaul, and Britain, western Europe was practically 

independent of the rulers at Constantinople. The coronation 

of Charlemagne in 800 a.d. marked the final severance of East 

and West. 

The division of the Roman Empire led naturally to a grouping 

of the Christian Church about Rome and Constantinople, the 

two chief centers of government. The popes, it 

has been seen, had always enjoyed spiritual leader- and the 

ship in the West. In temporal matters they ac- eastern 
T 1 1 1 1 1 • r 1 emperors 

Knowledged the authority of the eastern emperors, 

until the failure of the latter to protect Rome and Italy from 

the barbarians showed clearly that the popes must rely on their 

own efforts to defend Christian civilization. We have already 

learned how well such men as Leo the Great and Gregory the 

Great performed this task. Then in the eighth century came 

the alliance with the Frankish king, Pepin the Short, which 

gave the Papacy a powerful and generous protector beyond the 

Alps. Finally, by crowning Charlemagne, the pope definitely 

broke with the emperor at Constantinople and transferred 

his allegiance to the newly created western emperor. 

The patriarch of Constantinople, as bishop of the capital 

city, enjoyed an excellent position from which to assert his 

preeminence over the bishops of the other churches ^. 

. ^1 X- ^ . . . r ^ Rise of the 

m the East. Justmian m 550 a.d. conferred on patriarchate 

him the privilege of receiving appeals from the ®^ ^°^" 

, . , , ^ ^ ^\ , ,. stantinople 

Other patriarchs, and a few years later that dig- 
nitary assumed the high-sounding title of ''Universal Arch- 

1 See pages 217, 223. 



362 The Christian Church in the East and West 

bishop." The authority of the patriarch of Constantinople 

was immensely strengthened when the Mohammedans, having 

conquered Syria and Egypt, practically extinguished the three 

patriarchates of Antioch, Jerusalem, and Alexandria.^ The 

Church in the East now had a single patriarch, just as that in 

the West had the one bishop of Rome. Rivalry between them 

was inevitable. 

One source of strife between pope and patriarch was the 

controversy, arising in the eighth century, over the use of 

images in the churches. These images seem to 
Rivalry , ^ , 1 . /. \ r 

between have been, not statues, but pictures (icons) of 

pope and ^j^g apostles, saints, and martyrs. Many eastern 

patriarch ^, . . ,-111 r • 

Christians sought to strip the churches 01 icons, on 

the ground that by the ignorant they were venerated almost as 
idols. The Iconoclasts ("image-breakers") gained no support 
in the West. The Papacy took the view that images were a 
help to true devotion and might, therefore, be allowed. When 
a Roman emperor issued a decree for the destruction of all" 
images, the pope refused to obey the order in the churches 
under his direction, and went so far as to exclude the Icono- 
clasts from Christian fellowship. Although the iconoclastic 
movement failed in the East, after a violent controversy, it 
helped still further to sharpen the antagonism between the 
two branches of Christendom. Other causes of dispute arose 
in later times, chiefly concerning fine points of doctrine on 
which neither side would yield. 

The final rupture of Christendom was delayed until the 
middle of the eleventh century. In 1054 a.d. the pope sent 
The final ^^^ legates to Constantinople to demand obedi- 
nipture, ence to the Papacy. This being refused, they 

laid upon the high altar of Sancta Sophia the 
pope's bill of excommunication. Against the patriarch and 
his followers they pronounced a solemn curse, or anathema, 
devoting them "to the eternal society of the Devil and his 
angels." Then, we are told, they strode out of Sancta Sophia, 
shaking the dust from their feet and crying, ''Let God see and 

1 See page 376. 



The Greek Church 363 

judge." The two branches of the Christian Church, thus torn 
apart, were never afterward reunited.^ 

128. The Greek Church 

The Greek and Roman churches, in some respects, are nearer 
together than Roman Cathohcism and Protestantism. Both 
recognize three orders for the ministry, namely, 
bishops, priests, and deacons. Priests of the and Roman 
Greek Church may marry, but this privilege is churches 
not extended to bishops, who, therefore, are chosen 
from the monks. Baptism, by both churches, is administered to 
infants, but by the Greek Church under the form of total immer- 
sion. Confirmation in the Greek Church follows immediately 
after baptism; in the Roman Church it is postponed to the 
age of reason. In the communion service the Greek Church 
gives leavened bread, dipped in wine. The Roman Church with- 
holds wine from the laity and uses only a dry, unleavened wafer. 
While the services of the Roman Church are conducted in Latin, 
for those of the Greek Church the national languages (Greek, 
Russian, etc.) of the communicants are used. Its festivals do 
not coincide in time of celebration with those of the Roman 
Church, since the "Julian Calendar" followed in the East is 
now thirteen days behind the "Gregorian Calendar." ^ 

The Greek Church has not lacked missionary zeal. Through 
her agency the barbarians who entered southeastern Europe 
during the early Middle Ages were converted to spread of 
Christianity. At the present time nearly all the the Greek 
peoples of the Balkan peninsula, including Greeks, "^^ 
Montenegrins, Serbians, Bulgarians, and Rumanians, belong 
to the Greek Church.^ Its greatest victory w^as won toward 
the close of the tenth century, when the Russians were induced 
to accept the Greek form of Christianity. Outlying branches of 

1 Unsuccessful attempts to heal the schism between the two churches took place 
in the Middle Ages. The latest movement in this direction was made by Pope Leo 
XIII in 1894 A.D., but his efforts were not crowned with success. 

2 See page i86, note 2. 

3 Many Roman CathoUcs are found in Croatia-Slavonia, Bosnia, Dalmati^, and 
Albania. 



364 The Christian Church in the East and West 

the Greek Church are found also in the Turkish Empire. It 
now includes about one hundred and thirty-five milUon adher- 
ents in European lands. 

The patriarch of Constantinople is the spiritual head of the 
Greek Church. He enjoys, however, no such wide authority 

^ over eastern Christians as that exercised by the 

Present or- ,, t^ .-. i t rr^i 

ganization of pope over all Roman Catholics. There are as 
the Greek many as sixteen branches of the Greek Church, 
each self-governmg and under its own omcers. 
Despite the local independence of its branches, the Greek Church 
remains unified in doctrine. It claims to be the only ''Ortho- 
dox " church and clings with almost Oriental conservatism to the 
traditions of earlier ages. Nevertheless, as the official church 
of Russia, the largest and most swiftly growing of European 
countries, the Greek Church has before it a future of great 
importance. 

129. The Roman Church 

The separation of eastern and western Christianity naturally 
increased the importance of the Papacy. The popes hence- 
The Roman forth had a free hand to guide the destinies of 
Church the Roman Church. That church under their 

progressive direction was to show itseh vigorous and pro- 
gressive, with a wonderful power of adaptation to new and 
changed conditions. 

The Roman Empire in the West had gone down before the 

assaults of the Germanic barbarians, but in its place had arisen 

„, „ a new creation — the Roman Church. The chief 

The Roman . r i i 1 • i i • ^ r -i 

Church sur- City of the old empire became the capital of the 

vives the Papacy. The pope took, and has since retained, 

the title of Supreme Pontiff {Pontifex Maximus), 
once given to the head of the Roman state religion. ^ Latin 
has continued to be the official language of Roman Catholicism. 
The Roman genius for law and government found a new expres- 
sion in the creation of the papal power. The true successors 
of the ancient Roman statesmen were the popes of the Middle 

1 See page 148, note 2. 



I 



The Roman Church 365 

Ages. The idea of Rome, of her universaUty and of her eter- 
nity, Uved on in the Roman Church. 

The Roman Church, as the successor of the Roman Empire 
in the West, formed the chief center of civiHzation during the 
earher part of the Middle Ages. She stood between ^f^QJ.^ ^f 
the conquering Germans and the Romanized the Roman 
provincials and helped to join them both in lasting ^^ 
union. To the heathen she sent out her missionaries, preach- 
ing a religion of love and charity and introducing a higher 
morality than the barbarians had ever known before. She 
multiplied hospitals, orphanages, and asylums. Her bishops 
were the only protectors of the weak and the oppressed. She 
fostered education, art, and learning within the walls of churches 
and monasteries. Her priests and monks were the only teachers 
in an ignorant age. In an age of bloodshed and violence, when 
might made right, she proclaimed the superiority of the spirit 
to mere brute force. To sum up: the Roman Church was an 
indispensable agent in the making of medieval Europe. 

Christianity in its Greek and Roman forms was not the only 
great rehgion of the Middle Ages. In the seventh century, 
before the separation of the two churches had -j-j^^ menace 
been completed and before all Europe had become to Christen- 
Christian, another religion arose. It grew with °°^ 
marvelous rapidity, stripped the Church of much territory in 
western Asia, northern Africa, and Spain, and promised for a 
time to become the dominant faith of the world. This was 
Islam, or Mohammedanism, the religion of the Arabs. 

Studies 

I. In what different senses is the word "church" often used? 2. "The eastern 
patriarch was the shadow of the emperor, cast on the spiritual world." Explain 
this statement. 3. Why did heresies develop in the East rather than in the West? 
4. Look up in the New Testament the following texts relating to the primacy of 
St. Peter: Matthew, xvi, 18-19; Luke, xxii, 31-32; and John, xxi, 15-17. 5. What 
is "the power of the keys" which the popes claim to possess? 6. What reasons for 
the growth of the Papacy have been set forth in this chapter? 7. In what non- 
Christian religions is monasticism an established institution? 8. Look up in the 
New Testament the following texts quoted as favorable to monasticism: Matthew, 
xix, 21; Mark, x, 29-30; and Luke, xiv, 26. 9. What is the origin of the words 
•"monk," "hermit," "anchorite," and "abbot"? 10. Summarize the principal 



366 The Christian Church in the East and West 

benefits which the monastic system conferred on Europe. 11. Give reasons for 
the rapid conversion of the Germans to Christianity. 12. In what sense is it true 
that "half Europe owes its Christianity to women"? 13. Who was the "Apostle 
to the Germans"? 14. Who were the "Apostles to the Slavs"? 15. Comment on 
the significance to European civihzation of the missionary activity of the Christian 
Church in the Middle Ages. 16. Why has the separation of the Greek and Roman 
churches been described as "the most momentous fact in the history of Christen- 
dom during the Middle Ages"? 17. Why could not such an institution as the 
Papacy develop in the East? 



CHAPTER XVI 

THE ORIENT AGAINST THE OCCIDENT: RISE AND 
SPREAD OF ISLAM, 622-1058 A.D.^ 

130. Arabia and the Arabs 

Arabia, a vast peninsula between the Persian Gulf, the 
Indian Ocean, and the Red Sea, forms the hnk between Asia 
and Africa. It is connected with Asia by the The Arabian 
arid plains extending northward to the Euphrates; peninsula 
with Africa, by the equally arid isthmus of Suez. Though the 
country is more than one- third the size of the United States 
(excluding Alaska), it has never supported a large population. 
The interior, except for occasional oases, is a desert, inhabited 
only by wandering tribes. Along the southern and western 
coasts, between the mountains and the sea, the soil is generally 
fertile, the cUmate temperate, and the rainfall sufficient. Here 
the chief cities and towns are located. 

The original home of the Semites is believed to have been 
Arabia. Some Semitic peoples appear to have migrated 
northward to Babylonia and Syria, while others inhabitants 
crossed the Red Sea to Abyssinia. Physically, ®^ Arabia 
the Arabs are an attractive people, with well-shaped, muscular 
figures, handsome, bronzed faces, brilliant, black eyes, and all 
the organs of sense exquisitely acute. Simple and abstemious 
in their habits, they lead healthy lives and often reach an ex- 
treme yet vigorous old age. 

The Bedouin Arabs, by which name the nomadic inhabitants 
of the desert are known, claim Ishmael, the son of Abraham 
and half-brother of Isaac, as their ancestor. The -pj^g Bedou- 
life which they lead in the Arabian wilderness ins of the 
closely resembles that of the Hebrew patriarchs, 
as described in the Old Testament. The Bedouins are shep- 

1 Webster, Readings in Medieval and Modern History, chapter vi, "The Teachings 
of Mohammed." 

367 



368 



Rise and Spread of Islam 




Arabia and the Arabs 369 

herds and herdsmen, continually moving with their sheep and 
camels from one pasturage and water-hole to another. Their 
virtues — hospitaUty to the stranger, generosity, faithfulness 
to the ties of kinship — are those of a nomadic, barbarian people. 
Such also are their vices — love of fighting and plunder, re- 
vengefulness, and impatience of restraint. Nothing like a 
settled government is known to them. The only tribal author- 
ity is that of the chief, or ''sheik," who, because of his 
birth, courage, or wealth, has been chosen to the leader- 
ship. This description of the Bedouins to-day applies equally 
well to them in the age of Mohammed, during the sixth 
century. 

The Arabs who settled along the southern and western 
coasts of the peninsula had reached in the sixth century a 
considerable degree of civilization. They prac- 
ticed agriculture and carried on a flourishing trade ^^y Arabs' 
across the Red Sea and even to distant India. 
Between these sedentary Arabs and the Bedouins raged con- 
stant feuds, leading to much petty warfare. Nevertheless 
the hundreds of tribes throughout the peninsula preserved 
a feehng of national unity, which was greatly strengthened 
by Mohammed's appearance on the scene. 

The city of Mecca, located about fifty miles from the Red 
Sea, was a commercial metropohs and the center of Arabian 
heathenism. Every year the Arab tribes ceased Arabian 
fighting for four months, and went up to Mecca heathenism 
to buy and sell and visit the famous sanctuary called the Kaaba. 
Here were three hundred and sixty idols and a small, black 
stone (probably a meteorite), which legend declared had been 
brought from heaven. The stone was originally white, but 
the sins of the people who touched it had blackened it. Al- 
though most of the Arabs were idolaters, yet some of them 
recognized the "Unknown God" of the Semites, Allah, the 
Creator of all things. Arabia at this time contained many 
Jews, Zoroastrians, and Christians, who helped to spread 
abroad the conception of one God and thus to prepare the way 
for a prophet of a new religion. 



370 



Rise and Spread of Islam 



->^ 






i^^^ ,c ^i^yi j^i^y- 



li/L 



^ ^ 



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^1^'- ii. /J fliu/ 












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,if"' 



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131. Mohammed: Prophet and Statesman, 622-632 A.D. 

Mohammed,^ born at Mecca about 570 a.d., belonged to 
the tribe of the Koreish, who had long been guardians of the 
Early life of sacred Kaaba. Left an orphan at an early age, 
Mohammed ^-j^g future prophet was obliged to earn his own 
living. He served first as a shepherd on the hillsides of Mecca. 
This occupation, though lowly, gave him the love of solitude, 

and helped to nourish 
in his soul that ap- 
preciation of nature 
which later found ex- 
pression in so many 
of his utterances. 
While still a youth he 
became a camel-driver 
and twice crossed the 
deserts with caravans 
to Syria. Doubtless 
he made many ac- 
quaintances on these 
journeys and picked 
up much useful infor- 
mation. Mohammed, 
however, did not re- 
ceive a regular education; it is doubtful whether he could 
read or write. His marriage, when about twenty-five years of 
age, to a rich widow, named Khadija, brought him wealth 
and consideration. For some time, henceforth, he led the life 
of a prosperous merchant of Mecca. 

Mohammed seems always to have been a deeply religious 
man. As he grew older, his thoughts more and more centered 
Mohammed's on spiritual themes. He could not reconcile the 
visions gj-^gg idolatry of the Arabs with that belief in the 

unity of God which he himself had reached. In his distress he 
would withdraw into the wilderness, where he spent much time 
in fasting and solitary vigils, practices perhaps suggested to 

1 The earUer spelling was Mahomet. 



A Letter of Mohammed 

A letter, probably in the handwriting of Mohammed's 
secretary, addressed to the governor of Alexandria. The 
seal is inscribed " Mohammed, the prophet of God." 



Mohammed: Prophet and Statesman 371 

Mm by the example of Christian hermits.^ During these lonely 
hours in the desert strange scenes passed before his eyes and 
strange voices sounded in his ears. At first Mohammed thought 
that evil spirits possessed him, but Khadija encouraged him to 
believe that his visions were a revelation from another world. 
One day, so he declared, God's messenger, the archangel Gabriel, 
appeared to him and bade him preach a new religion to the 
Arabs. It was very simple, but in its simphcity lay its strength: 
*' There is no god but God, and Mohammed is the prophet of 
God." 

The prophet made his first converts in his wife, his children, 
and the friends who knew him best. Then, becoming bolder, 
he began to preach pubhcly in Mecca. In spite The Hegira, 
of Mohammed's eloquence, obvious sincerity, and ^^^ ^•^• 
attractive personaUty, he met a discouraging reception. A 
few slaves and poor freemen became his followers, but most of 
the citizens of Mecca regarded him as a madman. Moham- 
med's disciples, called Moslems,^ were bitterly persecuted by 
the Koreish, who resented the prophet's attacks on idolatry 
and feared the loss of their privileges at the Kaaba. Finally 
Mohammed and his converts took refuge in Medina, where 
some of the inhabitants had already accepted his teachings. 
This was the famous Hegira (FHght of the prophet) .^ 

At Medina Mohammed occupied a position of high honor and 
influence. The people welcomed him gladly and made him their 
chief magistrate. As his adherents increased in Later life of 
number, Mohammed began to combine fighting Mohammed 
with preaching. His mihtary expeditions against the Arab 
tribes proved to be very successful. Many of the conquered 
Bedouins enlisted under his banner and in 630 a.d. captured 
Mecca for the prophet. He treated its inhabitants leniently, 

1 See page 352. 

2 From the Arabic tnuslim, "one who surrenders himself" (to God's will). Dur- 
ing the Middle Ages the Moslems to their Christian enemies were commonly 
known as Saracens, a term which is still in use. 

3 The year 622 a.d., in which the Hegira occurred, marks the beginning of the 
Mohammedan era. The Christian year 191 7 a.d. nearly corresponds to the Mo- 
hammedan year 1336 a.h. (Anno Hegira). 



372 Rise and Spread of Islam 

but threw down all the idols in the Kaaba. After the submis- 
sion of Mecca most of the Arabs abandoned idolatry and ac- 
cepted the new rehgion. 

Mohammed did not long enjoy his position as uncrowned 
king of Arabia. He died in 632 a.d., at Medina, where he 
Death of ^^^ buried and where his tomb is still visited by 

Mohammed, pious Moslems. His followers could scarcely 
believe that their great prophet had gone away 
from them forever. They were ready to worship him as a god, 
until old Abu Bekr, Mohammed's father-in-law, rebuked them 
with the memorable words: ''Whoso worshipeth Mohammed, 
let him know that Mohammed is dead; but whoso worshipeth 
God, let him know that God liveth and dieth not." 

The character of Mohammed has been variously estimated. 
Moslem writers make him a saint; Christian writers, until 
Mohammed's recent times, have called him an "impostor." 
character ^^Q know that he was a man of simple habits, 

who, even in the days of his prosperity, lived on dates, barley 
bread, and water, mended his woolen garments, and attended 
to his own wants. He was mild and gentle, a lover of children, 
devoted to his friends, and forgiving toward his foes. He seems 
to have won the admiration of all with whom he came in con- 
tact. We know, too, that Mohammed was so deeply impressed 
with the consciousness of his religious mission that he was 
ready to give up wealth and an honorable position and face for 
years the ridicule and hatred of the people of Mecca. His 
faults — deceitfulness, superstitiousness, sensuahty — were those 
of the Arabs of his time. Their existence in Mohammed's 
character should not prevent our recognition of his real great- 
ness as a prophet and as a statesman. 

132. Islam and the Koran 

The rehgion which Mohammed preached is called Islam, 
an Arabic word meaning "surrender," or "resignation." This 
Formation of religion has its sacred book, the Koran ("thing 
the Koran read" or "thing recited"). It contains the 
speeches, prayers, and other utterances of Mohammed at 



i 



Islam and the Koran 



373 



various times during his career. Some parts of the Koran 
were dictated by the prophet to his disciples and by them 
were written out on skins, leaves of palm trees, bones, and 
bits of parchment. Many other parts remained at first 
only in the memory of Mohammed's followers. Soon after 
his death all the scattered passages were collected into one 

^ X AJ^L ■ .r II A Wi^ 




J. 



i C JlJ L^ J, iJ L U I 



A Passage from the Koran 

From a manuscript in the Bodleian Library, Oxford. 

book. Since the middle of the seventh century the Koran, 
every word of which the Moslems consider holy, has remained 
unchanged. 

The doctrines found in the Koran show many adaptations from 
the Jewish and Christian religions. Like them Islam empha- 
sizes the unity of God. The Moslem cry — Religious 
"Allah Akharf' "God is Great !"— forms its teachings of 
cardinal principle. Like them, also, Islam recog- ^ °^^ 
nizes the existence of prophets, including Abraham, Moses, 
and Jesus, but insists that Mohammed was the last and great- 
est of the prophets. The existence of angels and demons is 
recognized. The chief of the demons, Iblis, bears some resem- 
blance to the Jewish Satan and the Christian Devil. The 
account of the creation and fall of man is taken, with varia- 
tions, from the Old Testament. The description of the resur- 



374 Rise and Spread of Islam 

rection of the dead, the last judgment, and the division of the 
future world into paradise and hell, the former for believers in 
Islam, the latter for those who have refused to accept it, seems 
to have been based on Persian and Jewish ideas. These borrow- 
ings from other religions facilitated the spread of Islam among 
eastern peoples. 

The Koran imposes on the faithful Moslem five great obli- 
gations. First, he must recite, at least once in his life, aloud, 
Observances correctly, and with full understanding, the short 
of Islam creed: ''There is no god but God, and Mohammed 

is the prophet of God." Second, he must pray five times a 
day: at dawn, just after noon, before sunset, just after sunset, 
and at the end of the day. In every Mohammedan city the 
hour of prayer is announced from the tall minaret of the mosque 
by a crier (muezzin). Before engaging in prayer the worshiper 
washes face, hands, and feet; during the prayer he turns toward 
Mecca and bows his head to the ground. Third, he must ob- 
serve a strict fast, from morning to night, during every day of 
Ramadan, the ninth month of the Mohammedan year.^ In 
this month God presented the Koran to Gabriel for revelation 
to the prophet. Fourth, he must give alms to the poor. Fifth, 
he must, "if he is able," undertake at least one pilgrimage to 
Mecca. The annual visit of thousands of pilgrims to the holy 
city helps to preserve the feeling of brotherhood among Mos- 
lems all over the w^orld. These five obligations are the "pillars" 
of Islam. 

As a religious system Islam is exceedingly simple. It does 
not provide any elaborate ceremonies of worship and permits 
Organization no altars, pictures, or images in the mosque. 
of Islam Islam even lacks a priesthood. Every Moslem 

acts as his own priest. There is, however, an ofiicial, who on 
Friday, the Mohammedan Sabbath, offers up public prayers 
in the mosque and delivers a sermon to the assembled worshipers. 
All work is suspended during this service, but at its close secular 
activities are resumed. 

The Koran furnishes a moral code for the adherents of Islam. 

1 Feasting during the nights of this month is allowable. 



I 



Expansion of Islam in Asia and Egypt 375 

It contains a few important prohibitions. The Moslem is 
not to make images, to engage in games of chance, j^oj-al teach- 
to eat pork, or to drink wine. This last prohibi- ings of the 
tion has saved the Mohammedan world from the 
degradation and misery which alcohol has introduced into 
Christian lands. To Mohammed strong drink was ''the 
mother of all evil," and drunkenness, a sin. The Koran also 
inculcates many active virtues, including reverence toward 
parents, protection of widows and orphans, charity toward 
the poor, kindness to slaves, and gentle treatment of the lower 
animals. On the whole it must be admitted that the laws of 
the Koran did much to restrain the vices of the Arabs and to 
provide them with higher standards of right and wrong. Islam 
marked a great advance over Arabian heathenism. 

133. Expansion of Islam in Asia and Egypt 

Mohammed, as we have learned, did not scruple to use the 
sword as a means of spreading his new rehgion among the 
idolatrous Arab tribes. By thus following up islam spread 
preaching with force, he subdued the greater ^^ *^® sword 
part of Arabia. The prophet's methods were adopted by his 
successors. Within a century after Mohammed's death, they 
carried the doctrines of Islam over a large part of the civilized 
world and founded an Arabian Empire. 

Islam was a religion of conquest. It proclaimed the right- 
eousness of a "holy war," or jihad, against unbelievers. It 
promised rich booty for those who fought and jsiam as a 
won, and paradise for those who fell. The Arab religion of 
soldier, dying on the battlefield, expected to be *^°°^"®^ 
carried away by bright-eyed maidens to a garden of delight, 
where, reclining on soft cushions and rugs, he was to enjoy 
forever an existence of sensual ease. "Whosoever falls in 
battle," so runs a passage in the Koran, "his sins are forgiven, 
and at the day of judgment his limbs shall be supplied by the 
wings of angels and cherubim." 

The sudden creation of the Arabian power must not be under- 
stood, however, as solely a religious movement. Pride and 



37^ Rise and Spread of Islam 

greed, as well as fanaticism, drove the Arabs forward on their 

Islam as a conquering career. Long before Mohammed's 

political time Arabia had been in a state of unrest. Its 

warlike tribes, feehng a sense of their superiority 

to other peoples, were eager to overrun the rich districts of 

western Asia, much as the Germans had overrun western 

Europe. Islam strengthened the racial pride of the Arabs, 

united them into one nation, and gave them an effective 

organization for world-wide rule. 

The most extensive conquests of the Arabs were made within 

ten years after Mohammed's death. During this time the 

. , Moslem warriors, though poorly armed, ill-dis- 

Arab con- . ,. , , . , , ^ 

quests in the ciphned, and m every battle greatly outnumbered, 

East, 632-642 attacked with success the two strongest mihtary 

powers then in the world — Rome and Persia. 

From the Roman Empire in the East they seized the provinces 

of Syria and Palestine, with the famous cities of Damascus, 

Antioch, and Jerusalem. ^ They took Mesopotamia from the 

Persians and then, invading Iran, overthrew the Persian power.^ 

Egypt also was subjugated by these irresistible soldiers of the 

Crescent. 

According to the strict teaching of the Koran, those who 

refused to accept Islam were either to be killed or to be reduced 

„ , to slavery. As a matter of fact, the Arabs treated 

Treatment of ^ . ■' ^ . . ^ , i t, 

the con- their new subjects with marked liberanty. JNo 

quered massacres ftnd no persecutions occurred. The 

peoples 

conquered peoples were allowed to retain their 

own religions, on condition of paying ample tribute. In course 
of time, however, many of the Christians in Syria and Egypt 
and most of the Zoroastrians ^ in Persia adopted Islam, in 
order that they might acquire the rights and privileges of 
Moslem citizens. 

The sweeping conquests of the decade 632-642 a.d. were fol- 
Later Arab lowed in later years by a further extension of the 
conquests boundaries of the Arabian Empire. In the re- 
mote East the Arabs sent their victorious armies beyond the 

1 See page 333. 2 See pages 219, 332. 3 See page 54, note i. 



Expansion of Islam in Asia and Eg3^t 377 

Oxus and Indus rivers to central Asia and India. They cap- 
tured the island of Cyprus, annexed parts of Armenia and 
Asia Minor, and at length threatened to take Constantinople. 
Had that city fallen, all eastern Europe would have been laid 
open to invasion. 

The first attempts on Constantinople were made by sea and 
were repulsed, but during the years 716-717 a.d. the city had 
to face a combined attack by a Moslem navy and 
army. The eastern emperor, Leo the Isaurian, Constanti- 
conducted a heroic defense, using with much !J°J^®; J}^~ 
effectiveness the celebrated mixture known as 
'' Greek fire." This combustible, probably composed of sulphur, 




Naval Battle Showing Use of "Greek Fire" 

From a Byzantine manuscript of the fourteenth century at Madrid. "Greek fire" in 
marine warfare was most commonly propelled through long tubes of copper, which were placed 
on the prow of a ship and managed by a gunner. Conbustibles might also be kept in tubes 
flung by hand and exploded on board the enemy's vessel. 



naphtha, and quicklime, was poured or hurled on the enemy's 
ships in order to burn them. "Greek fire," the rigors of an 
uncommonly severe winter, and timely aid from the Bulgarians 
at length compelled the Arabs to beat a retreat. Their failure 
to take Constantinople gave the Roman Empire in the East 
another long lease of life. 



378 Rise and Spread of Islam 



134. Expansion of Islam in North Africa and Spain 

Though repulsed before the impregnable walls of Constanti- 
nople, the Arabs continued to win new dominions in other 
North Africa parts of the Christian world. After their occupa- 
subdued j^jqj^ Qf Egypt, they began to overrun North 

Africa, which Justinian, little more than a century earlier, 
had reconquered from the Vandals.^ The Romanized provin- 
cials, groaning under the burdensome taxes imposed on them 
by the eastern emperors, made only a slight resistance to the 
Moslem armies. A few of the great cities held out for a time, 
but after the capture and destruction of Carthage ^ in 698 a.d., 
Arab rule was sooif established over the whole extent of the 
Mediterranean coast from Egypt to the Atlantic. 

Islam made in North Africa one of its most permanent con- 
quests. After the coming of the Arabs many of the Christian 
Arabs and inhabitants appear to have withdrawn to Spain 
Berbers q^^^^ Sicily, leaving the field clear for the introduc- 

tion of Arabian civilization. The Arabs who settled in North 
Africa gave their religion and government to the Berbers, 
as the natives of the country were called, and to some 
extent intermingled with them. Arabs and Berbers still 
comprise the population of North Africa, though their once 
independent states have now been absorbed by European 
powers.^ 

With North Africa in their hands the Moslems did not long 
delay the invasion of Spain. In 711 a.d. an army of Arabs 

and Berbers, under their leader Tarik, crossed the 
Subjugation . 1 r .1 

of Spain strait which still bears his name ^ and tor the 

^^sun, £^j.g|- |.jj^g confronted the Germans. The Visi- 

gothic kingdom,^ already much enfeebled, proved 
to be an easy prey. A single battle made the invaders masters 
of half of Spain. Within a few years their hosts swept northward 

1 See page 330. 2 See page 245. 

3 Morocco, Algeria, and Tunis belong to France; Tripoli, to Italy. 

* Gibraltar = Gibal al Tarik, "the mountain of Tarik." 

6 See pages 244-245. 



The Caliphate and its Disruption 379 

to the Pyrenees. Only small districts in the northern part of 
the Spanish peninsula remained unconquered. 

The Moslems were not stopped by the Pyrenees. Crossing 
these mountains, they captured many of the old Roman cities 
in the south of Gaul and then advanced to the ^j^g Moslem 
north, attracted, apparently, by the booty to be advance in 
found in Christian monasteries and churches. 
In the vicinity of Tours they encountered the great army which 
Charles Martel, the chief minister of the Frankish king,^ had 
collected to oppose their advance. 

The battle of Tours seems to have continued for several 
days. Of its details we know nothing, though a Spanish chron- 
icler tells us that the heavy infantry of the Franks ^g^i^i^ of 

stood "immovable as a wall, inflexible as a block Tours, 

732 A D 
of ice" against the desperate assaults of the 

Moslem horsemen. When the Franks, after the last day's 

fighting, wished to renew the struggle, they found that the 

enemy had fled, leaving a camp filled with the spoils of war. 

This engagement, though famous in history, was scarcely 

decisive. For some time afterward the Moslems maintained 

themselves in southern Gaul. It was the Frankish ruler, 

Pepin the Short, who annexed their possessions there and drove 

them back across the Pyrenees to Spain.^ 

135. The CaUphate and its Disruption, 632-1058 A.D. 

Only eighteen years after the battle of Tours, the Arabian 

Empire was divided into two rival and more or less hostfle parts, 

which came to be called the Eastern and Western _^ , 

The four 

caliphates. The title of caliph, meaning "sue- "Orthodox" 
cessor " or " representative," had first been assumed gto^gh . j. 
by Mohammed's father-in-law, Abu Bekr, who 
was chosen to succeed the prophet as the civil and religious 
head of the Moslem world. After him followed Omar, who had 
been one of Mohammed's most faithful adherents, and then 
Othman and Ali, both sons-in-law of Mohammed. These 

1 See page 306. ^ por Charlemagne's Spanish conquests, see page 309. 



380 Rise and Spread of Islam 

four rulers are sometimes known as the ''Orthodox" caliphs, 
because their right to the succession was universally acknowl- 
edged by Moslems. 

After All's death the governor of Syria, Moawiya by name, 

succeeded in making himself caliph of the Moslem world. 

. This usurper converted the caliphate into a hered- 

caliphs at itary, instead of an elective, ofhce, and established 

STi^tso^ad ^^^ dynasty of the Ommiads.^ Their capital 

was no longer Medina in Arabia, but the Syrian 
city of Damascus. The descendants of Mohammed's family 
refused, however, to recognize the Ommiads as legitimate 
caliphs. In 750 a.d. a sudden revolt, headed by the party of 
the Abbasids,^ estabHshed a new dynasty. The Abbasids 
treacherously murdered nearly all the members of the Ommiad 
family, but one survivor escaped to Spain, where he founded 
at Cordova an independent Ommiad dynasty.^ North Africa, 
also, before long separated itself from Abbasid rule. Thus 
the once united caliphate, like the old Roman Empire, split 
in twain. 

The Abbasids continued to reign over the Moslems in Asia 
for more than three hundred years. The most celebrated of 
The Abbasid Abbasid caliphs was Harun-al-Rashid (Aaron 
caliphs, the Just), a contemporary of Charlemagne, to 

whom the Arab ruler sent several presents, includ- 
ing an elephant and a water-clock which struck the hours. 
The tales of Harun-al-Rashid 's magnificence, his gold and 
silver, his silks and gems, his rugs and tapestries, reflect the 
luxurious life of the Abbasid rulers. Gradually, however, 
their power declined, and in 1058 a.d. the Seljuk Turks,^ recent 
converts to Islam, deprived them of their power. A Turkish 
chieftain, with the title of "King of the East and West," then 
took the place of the Arabian caliph, though the latter remained 
the religious head of Islam. He lost even this spiritual author- 

1 So called from a leading family of Mecca, to which Moawiya belonged. 

2 So called from Abbas, an uncle of Mohammed. 

3 This was at first known as the emirate of Cordova, but in 929 a.d. it became 
the caliphate of Cordova. See the map facing page 306. 

4 See page 333. 



Arabian Civilization 381 

ity, just two centuries later, when the Mongols from central 
Asia bverran the Turkish dominions. ^ 

The Abbasids removed their capital from Damascus to 
Bagdad on the banks of the middle Euphrates. The new city, 
under the fostering care of the caHphs, grew with ^ ^ ^ 
great rapidity. Its population in the ninth cen- 
tury is said to have reached two millions. For a time it was 
the largest and richest city in the Moslem world. How its 
splendor impressed the imagination may be seen from the 
stories of the Thousand and One Nights? After the extinction 
of the Abbasid caliphate, its importance as the religious and 
pohtical center of Islam declined. But memories of the former 
grandeur of Bagdad still cUng to it, and even to-day it is re- 
ferred to in Turkish official documents as the "glorious city." 

It was a very great misfortune for the eastern world when 
the Arabian Empire passed under the control of rude Asiatic 
peoples. The Turks accepted Islam, but they Extinction 
did httle to preserve and extend Arabian civiliza- °^ *^® 
tion. The stagnant, non-progressive condition of Empire a 
the East at the present time is largely due to the misfortune 
misgovernment of its Turkish conquerors. 

136. Arabian Civilization 

The great Moslem cities of Bagdad, Damascus, Cairo, and 
Cordova were not only seats of government for the different 
divisions of the Arabian Empire; they were also r^^^ Arabs 
the centers of Arabian civiHzation. The conquests as absorbers 
of the Arabs had brought them into contact with 
highly developed peoples whose culture they absorbed and 
to some extent improved. They owed most to Persia and, 

1 See page 485. Descendants of the Abbasids subsequently took up their 
abode in Egypt. Through them the claim to the caliphate passed in 1538 a.d. 
to the Ottoman Turks. The Sultan at Constantinople still calls himself caliph 
of the Moslem world. However, in 1916 a.d. the Grand Sherif of Mecca, a 
descendant of Mohammed, led a revolt against the Turks, captured Mecca and 
Medina, and proclaimed Arab independence. Should the European war end in 
favor of the Allies, the caliphate will undoubtedly go back to the Arabs. 

2 Popularly called the Arabian Nights. 



382 Rise and Spread of Islam 

after Persia, to Greece, through the empire at Constantinople. 
In their hands there was somewhat the same fusion of East 
and West as Alexander the Great had sought to accomphsh.^ 
Greek science and philosophy mingled with the arts of Persia 
and other Oriental lands. Arabian civilization, for about four 
centuries under the Ommiad and Abbasid caliphs, far surpassed 
anything to be found in western Europe. 

Many improvements in agriculture were due to the Arabs. 
They had a good system of irrigation, practiced rotation of 
. . , crops, employed fertilizers, and understood how 

Agriculture r ^ ^ • ' ri 1 

to graft and produce new varieties of plants and 
fruits. From the Arabs we have received cotton, flax, hemp, 
buckwheat, rice, sugar cane, and coffee, various vegetables, 
including asparagus, artichokes, and beans, and such fruits as 
melons, oranges, lemons, apricots, and plums. 

The Arabs excelled in various manufactures. Damascus 
was famous for its brocades, tapestries, and blades of tempered 
Manufac- steel. The Moorish cities in Spain had also their 
tunng special productions: Cordova, leather; Toledo, 

armor; and Granada, rich silks. Arab craftsmen taught the 
Venetians to make crystal and plate glass. The work of Arab 
potters and weavers was at once the admiration and despair 
of its imitators in western Europe. The Arabs knew the 
secrets of dyeing and they made a kind of paper. Their textile 
fabrics and articles of metal were distinguished for beauty of 
design and perfection of workmanship. European peoples 
during the early Middle Ages received the greater part of their 
manufactured articles of luxury through the Arabs.^ 

The products of Arab farms and workshops were carried far 

and wide throughout medieval lands. The Arabs were keen 

merchants, and Mohammed had expressly encour- 
Commerce . . 

aged commerce by declaring it agreeable to God. 

The Arabs traded with India, China, the East Indies (Java 

1 See page 126. 

2 The European names of some common articles reveal the Arabic sources 
from which they were first derived. Thus, damask comes from Damascus, muslin 
from Mosul, gauze from Gaza, cordovan (a kind of leather) from Cordova, and 
morocco leather from North Africa. 



Arabian Civilization 383 

and Sumatra), the interior of Africa, Russia, and even with 
the Baltic lands. Bagdad, which commanded both land and 
water routes, was the chief center of this commerce, but 
other cities of western Asia, North Africa, and Spain shared 
in its advantages. The bazaar, or merchants' quarter, was 
found in every Moslem city. 

The trade of the Arabs, their wide conquests, and their 
religious pilgrimages to Mecca vastly increased their knowledge 
of the world. They were the best geographers of Geographical 
the Middle Ages. An Abbasid caliph, the son of knowledge 
Harun-al-Rashid, had the Greek Geography of Ptolemy ^ trans- 
lated into Arabic and enriched the work with illuminated maps. 
Arab scholars compiled encyclopedias describing foreign coun- 
tries and peoples, constructed celestial spheres, and measured 
closely the arc of the meridian in order to calculate the size of 
the earth. There is some reason to believe that the mariner's 
compass was first introduced into Europe by the Arabs. 
The geographical knowledge of Christian peoples during the 
Middle Ages owed much, indeed, to their Moslem fore- 
runners. 

Schools and universities flourished in Moslem lands when 
Christian Europe was still in the "Dark Ages." The largest 

institution of learning was at Cairo, where the ^^ 

^ Education 

lectures of the professors were attended by thou- 
sands of students. Famous universities also existed in Bag- 
dad and Cordova. Moslem scholars especially delighted in 
the study of philosophy. Arabic translations of Aristotle's ^ 
writings made the ideas of that great thinker famihar to the 
students of western Europe, where the knowledge of Greek had 
all but died out. The Arabs also formed extensive libraries 
of many thousands of manuscripts, all carefully arranged and 
catalogued. Their libraries and universities, especially in 
Spain, were visited by many Christians, who thus became ac- 
quainted with Moslem learning and helped to introduce it 
into Europe. 

The Arabs have been considered to be the founders of modern 

1 See page 133. 2 See page 275. 



3^4 



Rise and Spread of Islam 



experimental science. They were relatively skillful chemists, 
Chemistry for they discovered a number of new compounds 
and medicine (guch as alcohol, aqua regia, nitric acid, and cor- 
rosive sublimate) and understood the preparation of mercury 
and of various oxides of metals. In medicine the Arabs based 
their investigations on those of the Greeks/ but made many 
additional contributions to the art of healing. They studied 




Interior of the Mosque of Cordova 

The great mosque of Cordova, begun in the eighth century, was gradually enlarged during 
the following centuries to its present dimensions, 570 by 425 feet. The building, one of the 
largest in the world, has now been turned into a cathedral. The most striking feature of the 
interior is the forest of porphyry, jasper, and marble pillars supporting open Moorish arches. 
Originally there were 1200 of these pillars, but many have been destroyed. 

physiology and hygiene, dissected the human body, per- 
formed difficult surgical operations, used anaesthetics, and 
wrote treatises on such diseases as measles and smallpox. 
Arab medicine and surgery were studied by the Christian 
peoples of Europe throughout the later period of the Middle 
Ages. 

The Arabs had a strong taste for mathematics. Here again 
they carried further the old Greek investigations. In arith- 

1 See page 131. 



Arabian Civilization 385 

metic they used the so-called "Arabic" figures, which were 
probably borrowed from India. The Arabic nu- Mathematics 
merals gradually supplanted in western Europe and astron- 
the awkward Roman numerals. In geometry the 
Arabs added little to EucHd, but algebra is practically their 
creation. An Arabic treatise on algebra long formed the text- 
book of the subject in the universities of Christian Europe. 
Spherical trigonometry and conic sections are Arabic inventions. 
This mathematical knowledge enabled the Arabs to make con- 
siderable progress in astronomy. Observatories at Bagdad and 
Damascus were erected as early as the ninth century. Some of 
the astronomical instruments which they constructed, includ- 
ing the sextant and the gnomon, are still in use.^ 

In prose and verse there are two Moslem productions which 
have attained wide popularity in European lands. The first 
work is the Thousand and One Nights, a collection Romance 
of tales written in Arabic and describing life and ^^^ poetry 
manners at the court of the Abbasids. The book, as we now 
have it, seems to have been composed as late as the fifteenth 
century, but it borrows much from earlier Arabic sources. 
Many of the tales are of Indian or Persian origin, but all have 
a thoroughly Moslem coloring. The second work is the Ru- 
bdiydt of the astronomer-poet of Persia, Omar Khayyam, who 
wrote about the beginning of the twelfth century. His Rubdiydt 
is a little volume of quatrains, about five hundred in all, dis- 
tinguished for wit, satirical power, and a vein of melancholy, 
sometimes pensive, sometimes passionate. These character- 
istics of Omar's poetry have made it widely known in the 
western w^orld.^ 

Painting and sculpture owe little to the Arabs, but their 
architecture, based in part on Byzantine and Persian models, 
reached a high level of excellence. Swelling domes, vaulted 

1 Many words in European languages beginning with the prefix al (the definite 
article in Arabic) show how indebted was Europe to the Arabs for scientific knowl- 
edge. In EngHsh these words include alchemy (whence chemistry), alcohol, alembic, 
algebra, alkali, almanac, Aldebaran (the star), etc. 

2 The translation of the Rubdiydt by Edward Fitzgerald is almost an English 
classic. 



386 



Rise and Spread of Islam 



Architecture 



roofs, arched porches, tall and graceful minarets, and the exqui- 
site decorative patterns known as ''arabesques" make many 

Arab buildings miracles 
of beauty. Glazed tiles, 
mosaics, and jeweled glass were ex- 
tensively used for ornamentation. 
From the first the Arab builders 
adopted the pointed arch; they in- 
troduced it into western Europe; and 
it became a characteristic feature of 
Gothic cathedrals.^ Among the best- 
known of Arab buildings are the 
so-called ''Mosque of Omar" at 
Jerusalem, 2 the Great Mosque of 
Cordova, and that architectural gem, 
the Alhambra at Granada. Many 
features of Moorish art were taken 
over by the Spaniards, who repro- 
duced them in the cathedrals and 
missions of Mexico and California. 




Capitals and Arabesques 
FROM THE Alhambra 



One of Mohammed's laws for- 
bidding the use of idols was sub- 
sequently expanded by religious 
teachers into a prohibition of all 
imitations of human or animal 
forms in art. Sculptors who ob- 
served this prohibition relied for 
ornamentation on intricate geo- 
metrical designs known as ara- 
besques. These were carved in 
stone or molded in plaster. 



137. The Influence of Islam 

The division of the Arabian Em- 
pire into rival caliphates did not check 
Growth of the spread of Islam. 
Islam 'phe Turks and Mongols 

during the Middle Ages carried it to the uttermost regions of 
Asia and throughout southeastern Europe. Some parts of the 
territory thus gained by it have since been lost. Spain and 
the Balkan peninsula are once more Christian lands. In other 
parts of the world, and notably in Africa and India, the rehgion 
of Mohammed is spreading faster than any other creed. Islam 
to-day claims about two hundred million adherents. 

The growth of Islam is evidence that it meets the needs of 
Asiatic and African peoples. Its simple creed — the unity of 
God, man's immortal soul, and material rewards and penal- 

1 See page 564. 2 See the illustration, page 471. 




FOUNTAIN OF THE LIONS IN THE ALHAMBRA 

The most remarkable feature of the Alhambra is the Court of the Lions. It measures ii6 
feet in length by 66 feet in breadth. A gallery supported on marble columns surrounds the 
court. In the center is the Fountain of Lions, an alabaster basin resting on the backs of 12 
marble lions. 



The Influence of Islam 387 

ties in a future life — adapt it to the understanding of half- 
civilized peoples. As a religion it is immeasurably The benefits 
superior to the rude nature worship and idolatry ^^ ^^^^^ 
which it has supplanted. The same is true of Islam as a system 
of morality. The practice of the virtues recommended by the 
Koran and the avoidance of the vices which that book condemns 
tend to raise its adherents in the moral scale. 

From the moral standpoint one of the least satisfactory fea- 
tures of Islam is its attitude toward women. The ancient 
Arabs, like many other peoples, seem to have set Treatment 
no limit to the number of wives a man might °^ women 
possess. Women were regarded by them as mere chattels, and 
female infants were frequently put to death. Mohammed 
recognized polygamy, but limited the . number of legitimate 
wives to four. At the same time Mohammed sought to improve 
the condition of women by forbidding female infanticide, by . 
restricting the faciUties for divorce, and by insisting on kind 
treatment of wives by their husbands. ''The best of you," 
he said, "is he who behaves best to his wives." According to 
eastern custom Moslem women are secluded in a separate part 
of the house, called the harejn.^ They never appear in public, 
except when closely veiled from the eyes of strangers. Their 
education is also much neglected. 

Slavery, like polygamy, was a custom w^hich Mohammed 
found fully established among the Arabs. He disliked slavery 
and tried in several w^ays to lessen its evils. He y 

declared that the emancipation of Moslem slaves ^ 

was an act of special merit, and ordered that in a war between 
Moslems the prisoners were not to be enslaved. Mohammed 
also insisted on kind treatment of slaves by their masters. 
"Feed your slaves," he directed, "with food of that which you 
eat and clothe them with such clothing as you wear, and com- 
mand them not to do that which they are unable to do." 
The condition of Moslem slaves does not appear to be in- 
tolerable, though the slave traffic which still exists in some 
parts of Africa is a disgrace to Islam. 

1 The Athenians had a similar practice. See page 257. 



388 Rise and Spread of Islam 

studies 

I. On an outline map indicate the Arabian Empire at its widest extent. Lo- 
cate the more important cities, including Mecca, Medina, Jerusalem, Damascus, 
Bagdad, Cairo, Alexandria, Granada, Cordova, and Seville. 2. Define the follow- 
ing: Kaaba; Islam; Koran; and caliph. 3. How did the geographical situation 
of Arabia preserve it from being conquered by Persians, Macedonians, or Romans? 
4. Why had the Arabs, until the time of Mohammed, played so inconspicuous 
a part in the history of the world? 5. ^Moharrtaied "began as a mule driver and 
ended as both a pope and a king." Explain this statement. 6. How does Moham- 
med's career in Mecca illustrate the saying that "a prophet is not without honor 
save in his own country"? 7. What resemblances may be traced between Islam on 
the one side and Judaism and Christianity on the other side? 8. Did religion have 
anything to do with the migrations of the Germans? How was it with the Arabs? 
9. Contrast the methods of propagating Christianity in Europe with those of spread- 
ing Islam in Asia. 10. Why is the defeat of the Moslems before Constantinople re- 
garded as more significant than their defeat at the battle of Tours? 11. Compare 
the eastern limits of the Arabian Empire with those of Alexander's empire (maps 
facing pages 1 24, 376) . 12. Show that the Arabian Empire, because of its geographi- 
cal position, was less easily defended than the Roman Empire. 13. Locate on 
the map facing page 376 the following commercial cities in the Arabian Empire: 
Samarkand; Cabul; Bokhara; Mosul; Kairwan; Fez; Seville; and Toledo. 14. Can 
you suggest any reason why the Arabs did little in painting and sculpture? 15. 
What are some of the best-knowTi stories in the Thousand and One Nights? 16. Dis- 
cuss the justice of this statement: "If our ideas and our arts go back to antiquity, 
all the inventions which make life easy and agreeable come to us from the Arabs." 
17. "From the eighth to the twelfth century the world knew but two civilizations, 
that of Byzantium and that of the Arabs." Comment on this statement. 18. Show 
that Islam was an heir to the Graeco-Oriental civilization. 19. Can you suggest 
any reasons why Islam to-day spreads among the African negroes more rapidly than 
Christianity? 20. How does Islam, by sanctioning polygamy and slavery, hinder 
the rise of women and of the working classes? 



CHAPTER XVII 
THE NORTHMEN AND THE NORMANS TO 1066 A.D/ 

138. Scandinavia and the Northmen 

From the East we return once more to the West, from Asia 
to Europe, from Arabia to Scandinavia. We have now to deal 
with the raids and settlements of the Norsemen a new series 
or Northmen. Like the Arabs the Northmen °^ migrations 
quitted a sterile peninsula and went forth to find better homes 
in distant lands. Their invasions, beginning toward the close 
of the eighth century, lasted about three hundred years. 

The Northmen belonged to the Teutonic family of peoples. 
They were kinsmen of the Germans, the Anglo-Saxons, and 
the Dutch. Their migrations may be regarded, a Teutonic 
therefore, as the last wave of that great Teutonic movement 
movement which in earlier times had inundated western Europe 
and overwhelmed the Roman Empire. 

The Northmen lived, as their descendants still live, in Den- 
mark, Sweden, and Norway. 
The name Scandinavia is some- 
times applied to „ 

^^ . Scandinavia 

all three countries, 

but more commonly it is re- 
stricted to the peninsula com- 
prising Sweden and Norway. 

Sweden, with the exception 
of the northern highlands, is mostly a level region, watered 
by copious streams, dotted with many lakes, and 
sinking down gradually to the Baltic Sea and 
the Gulf of Bothnia. The fact that Sweden faces these inland 
waters determined the course of her development as a nation. 

1 Webster, Readings in Medieval and Modern History, chapter vii, "The Saga 
of a Viking"; chapter viii, "Alfred the Great"; chapter ix, "William the Conqueror 
and the Normans in England." 

389 




Swedish Rock Carving 

Shows a man plowing. 



390 



The Northmen and the Normans 



She never has had any aspirations to become a great oceanic 
power. Her whole historic life has centered about the Baltic. 

Norway, in contrast to Sweden, faces the Atlantic. The 

country is little more than a strip of rugged seacoast reach- 

ing northward to well within the Arctic Circle. 

Were it not for the influence of the " Gulf Stream 

drift," much of Norway w^ould be a frozen waste for the 

greater part of the year. Vast forests of fir, pine, and birch 

still cover the greater part of 
the country, and the land 
which can be used for farming 
and grazing does not exceed 
eleven per cent of the entire 
area. But Norway, like 
Greece,^ has an extent of 
shore-line out of all propor- 
tion to its superficial area. 
So numerous are the fiords, 
or inlets of the sea, that the 
total length of the coast 
approximates twelve thousand 
miles. Slight wonder that the 
Vikings,^ as they called them- 
selves, should feel the lure of 
the ocean and should put forth 
in their frail barks upon the 
"pathway of the sw^ans" in 
search of booty and adventure. 
The Swedes and Norwegians, together with their kinsmen, 
the Danes, probably settled in Scandinavia long before the 
Prehistoric beginning of the Christian era. During the 

times in earlier part of the prehistoric period the inhab- 

Scandinavia .^^^^^ ^^^^^ ^^-^ .^^ ^^^ g^^^^ ^^^^^ ^^^ ^^^ ^^^ ^^ 

bronze, and then of iron, was gradually introduced. Excava- 




A Runic Stone 

A stone, twelve feet high and six feet wide, 
in the churchyard of Rok, Ostergotland, Swe- 
den. The runic inscription, which contains 
more than 760 letters, is the longest known. 



1 See page 67. 

2 The word perhaps comes from the old Norse vik, a bay, and means "one who 
dwells by a bay or fiord." Another meaning assigned to Viking is "warrior." 



Scandinavia and the Northmen 391 

tions in ancient grave mounds have revealed implements of the 
finest polished stone, beautiful bronze swords, and coats of 
iron ring mail, besides gold and silver ornaments which may- 
have been imported from southern Europe. The ancient 
Scandinavians have left to us curious records of the past in 
their picture writing chiseled on the flat surface of rocks. The 
objects represented include boats with as many as thirty men 
in them, horses drawing two-wheeled carts, spans of oxen, 
farmers engaged in ploughing, and warriors on horseback. 
By the close of the prehistoric period the northern peoples were 
also familiar with a form of the Greek alphabet (the " runes "^) 
and with the art of writing. 

139. The Viking Age 

The Viking Age, with which historic times begin in northern 
Europe, extends from about 800 a.d. to the introduction of 
Christianity in the tenth and eleventh centuries, j^awn of his- 
This was the period when the Northmen, or tory in 
Vikings, realizing that the sea offered the quickest ^^^ 
road to wealth and conquest, began to make long voyages to 
foreign lands. In part they went as traders and exchanged 
the furs, wool, and fish of Scandinavia for the clothing, orna- 
ments, and other articles of luxury found in neighboring coun- 
tries. But it was no far cry from merchant to freebooter, and, 
in fact, expeditions for the sake of plunder seem to have been 
even more popular with the Northmen than peaceful commerce. 

Whether the Northmen engaged in trade or in warfare, good 
ships and good seamanship were indispensable to them. They 
became the boldest sailors of the early Middle jj^^ jnQrth- 
Ages. No longer hugging the coast, as timid men as 
mariners had always done before them, the North- 
men pushed out into the uncharted main and steered their course 
only by observation of the sun and stars. In this way the 
Northmen were led to make those remarkable explorations in 
the Atlantic Ocean and the polar seas which added so greatly 
to geographical knowledge. 

1 See the illustration, page 240. 



392 The Northmen and the Normans 

It was not uncommon for a Viking chieftain, after his days 
of sea-roving had ended, to be buried in his ship, over which 
Ships of the a grave chamber, covered with earth, would be 
Northmen erected. The discovery of several of these burial 
ships enables us to form a good idea of Viking vessels. The 
largest of them might reach a length of seventy feet and hold as 




A Viking Shiip 

The Gokstad vessel is of oak, twenty-eight feet long and six- 
teen feet broad in the center. It has seats for sixteen pairs of 
rowers, a mast for a single sail, and a rudder on the right or 
starboard side. The gunwale was decorated with a series of 
shields, painted alternately black and gold. TJiis ship, which 
probably dates from about goo a.d., was found on the shore of 
Christiania Fiord. A still larger ship, of about the same date, was 
taken in 1904 a.d. from the grave of a Norwegian queen at Ose- 
berg. With the queen had been buried a four-wheeled wagon, 
three sleighs, three beds, two chests, a chair, a large loom, and va- 
rious kitchen utensils, in fact everything needed for her comfort 
in the other world. 

many as one hundred and twenty men. A fleet of the North- 
men, carrying several thousand warriors, mail-clad and armed 
with spears, swords, and battle-axes, was indeed formidable. 
During this period the Northmen were the masters of the sea, 
as far as western Europe was concerned. This fact largely 
explains their successful campaigns. 

A very important source of information for the Viking Age 

consists of the writings called sagas. ^ These naratives are in 

prose, but they were based, in many instances, 

on the songs which the minstrels (skalds) sang to 

appreciative audiences assembled at the banqueting board of a 

Viking chieftain. It was not until the twelfth and thirteenth 

1 The word is derived from old Norse segya, "to say"; compare German sagen. 



The Viking Age 393 

centuries that the sagas were committed to writing. This 
was done chiefly in Iceland, and so it happens that we must 
look to that distant island for the beginnings of Scandinavian 
literature. 

The sagas belong to different classes. The oldest of them 
relate the deeds of Viking heroes and their families. Others 
deal with the lives of Norwegian kings. Some of subject 
the most important sagas describe the explora- matter of the 
tions and settlements of the Northmen and hence ^^^^^ 
possess considerable value as historical records. 

The sagas throw much light on the character of the Northmen. 
Love of adventure and contempt for the quiet joys of home 
comes out in the description of Viking chiefs, ^j^^ ^oj-th- 
who "never sought refuge under a roof nor emptied men as seen 
their drinking-horns by a hearth." An immense "^ ^ ^^^^^ 
love of fighting breathes in the accounts of Viking w^arriors, 
"who are glad when they have hopes of a battle; they will 
leap up in hot haste and ply the oars, snapping the oar-thongs 
and cracking the tholes." The undaunted spirit of Viking 
sailors, braving the storms of the northern ocean, expresses 
itself in their sea songs: "The force of the tempest assists the 
arms of our oarsmen; the hurricane is our servant, it drives 
us whithersoever wx wish to go." The sagas also reveal other 
characteristics of the Northmen: a cruelty and faithlessness 
which made them a terror to their foes; an almost barbaric 
love of gay clothing and ornament; a strong sense of public 
order, giving rise to an elaborate legal system; and even a 
feehng for the romantic beauty of their northern home, with 
its snow-clad mountains, dark forests of pine, sparkling w^ater- 
falls, and deep, blue fiords. 

It is to the Viking Age also that w^e owe the composition of 
the poems going by the name of the Elder Edda. These poems, 
as well as the prose sagas, were collected and Eddaic 
arranged in Iceland during the later Middle Ages, po^ms 
The Elder Edda is a storehouse of old Norse mythology. It 
forms our chief source of knowledge concerning Scandinavian 
heathenism before the introduction of Christianity. 



394 The Northmen and the Normans 

140. Scandinavian Heathenism 

The religion of the Northmen bore a close resemblance to 
that of the other Teutonic peoples. The leading deity was 
The god Odin (German Woden), whose exploits are cele- 

^^^ brated in many of the songs of the Elder Edda. 

Odin was represented as a tall, gray-bearded chieftain, carrying 
a shield and a spear which never missed its mark. Though a 
god of battle, Odin was also a lover of wisdom. He discovered 
the runes which gave him secret knowledge of all things. Legend 
told how Odin killed a mighty giant, whose body was cut into 
pieces to form the world: the earth was his flesh, the water 
his blood, the rocks his bones, and the heavens his skull. Having 
created the world and peopled it with human beings, Odin 
retired to the sacred city of Asgard, where he reigned in company 
with his children. 

Enthroned beside Odin sat his oldest son, Thor (German 
Thunor), god of thunder and lightning. His weapon, the 
The god thunderbolt, was imagined as a hammer, and was 

"^^0^ especially used by him to protect gods and men 

against the giants. The hammer, when thrown, returned to 
his hand of its own accord. Thor also possessed a belt 
of strength, which, when girded about him, doubled his 
power. 

Many stories were told of Thor's adventures, when visiting 
Jotunheim, the abode of the giants. In a drinking-match he 
Thor's deeds tried to drain a horn of liquor, not knowing that 
of strength ^^^ ^^^ Qf ^j^^ hoYU reached the sea, which w^as 
appreciably lowered by the god's huge draughts. He sought 
to lift from the ground a large, gray cat, but struggle as he might, 
could raise only one of the animal's feet. What Thor took for 
a cat, however, was really the Midgard serpent, which, with 
its tail in its mouth, encircled the earth. In the last trial of 
strength Thor wrestled with an old woman, and after a vio- 
lent contest was thrown down upon one knee. But the hag 
was in truth relentless old age, who sooner or later lays 
low all men. 



Scandinavian Heathenism 395 

Most beautiful and best beloved of the Scandinavian divinities 
was Odin's son, Balder. He was represented as a gentle deity 
of innocence and righteousness. As long as he Myth of 
lived, evil could gain no real control in the world balder 
and the power of the gods would remain unshaken. To pre- 
serve Balder from all danger his mother Frigga required every- 
thing on earth to swear never to harm her son. Only a single 
plant, the mistletoe, did not take the oath. Then the traitor 
Loki gathered the mistletoe and came to an assembly where 
the gods were hurling all kinds of missiles at Balder, to show that 
nothing could hurt him. Loki asked the blind Hoder to throw 
the plant at Balder. Hoder did so, and Balder fell dead. The 
gods tried to recover him from Hel, the gloomy underworld, 
but Hel demanded as his ransom a tear from every living 
creature. Gods, men, and even things inanimate wept for 
Balder, except one cruel giantess — Loki in disguise — who 
would not give a single tear. She said, "Neither living nor 
dead was Balder of any use to me. Let Hel keep what 
it has." 

Disasters followed Balder's death. An immense fire burned 
up the world and the human race. The giants invaded Asgard 
and slaughtered its inhabitants. Odin fell a "Twilight of 
victim to the mighty wolf Fenris. Thor, having *^® Gods" 
killed the Midgard serpent, was suffocated with the venom 
which the dying monster cast over him. The end of all things 
arrived. This was the catastrophe which had been predicted 
of old — the "Twilight of the Gods." 

Besides the conception of Hel, the Northmen also framed 
the idea of Valhalla,^ the abode to which Odin received the 
souls of those who had died, not ingloriously in 
their beds, but on the field of battle. A troop 
of divine maidens, the Valkyries,^ rode through the air on Odin's 
service to determine the issue of battles and to select brave 
warriors for Valhalla. There on the broad plains they fought 
with one another by day, but at evening the slayer and the 

1 "Hall of the slain." 

2 "Choosers of the slain." 



39<^ 



The Northmen and the Normans 



slain returned to Odin's hall to feast mightily on boar's flesh 

and drink deep draughts of mead. 
As with most heathen religions that of the Northmen was 

full of terrors. Their lively imagination peopled the world 

with many strange figures; Fiends 
Supernatural and monsters inhab- 
beings ii-e^ ti^g marshes, 

giants lived in the dark forest, 
evil spirits haunted all solitary 
places, and ghosts stalked over 
the land by night. The use of 
charms and spells to guard against 
such creatures passed over into 
Christian times. Their memory 
also survives in folk tales, which 
are full of allusions to giants, 
dwarfs, goblins, and other super- 
natural beings. 

Christianity first gained a foot- 
hold in Denmark through the work 
of Roman Catholic missionaries 
sent out by Charle- 
magne's son, Louis 
the ?ious.^ Two cen- 
turies elapsed before the Danes 
were completely converted. From 
A door from a church in Iceland; Denmark the ncw faith Spread to 

date, tenth or eleventh century. The o j tvt i 'j. 

iron knob is inlaid with silver. The SwcdcU. Norway OWCd itS COU- 

slaying of a dragon is represented above versioU largely tO the CrUSadiug 

and below is shown the Midgard ser- i r t^- rM r / /: 

^^ work of Kmg Olaf (1010-1029 

A.D.), whose zeal for Christianity 
won him the title of Olaf the Saint. The Norwegians carried 
Christianity to Iceland, where it supplanted the old heathenism 
in the year 1000 a.d. With the general adoption of the 
Christian religion in Scandinavian lands, the Viking Age 
drew to an end. 

1 See page 312. 




Christianiza- 
tion of the 
Northmen 



Norse Metal Work 

Museum, Copenhagen 



The Northmen in the West 397 



141. The Northmen in the West 

The Northmen were still heathen when they set forth on their 
expeditions of plunder and conquest. Doubtless the principal 
cause of this Viking movement is to be sought in causes of 
the same hunger for land which prompted the the Viking 
Germanic invasions and, in fact, has led to colonial °^°'^®°^®^ 
expansion in all ages. By the ninth century Scandinavia could 
no longer support its rapidly growing population, and enforced 
emigration was the natural consequence. The political con- 
dition of Scandinavia at this time also helps to explain the 
Viking expansion. Denmark and Norway had now become 
strong kingdoms, whose rulers forced all who would not sub- 
mit to their sway to leave the country. Thus it resulted 
that the numbers of the emigrants were swelled by exiles, 
outlaws, and other adventurers who* turned to the sea in 
hope of gain. 

The Northmen started out as pirates and fell on the coasts 
of England, France, and Germany. In their shallow boats 
they also found it easy to ascend the rivers and Raids of the 
reach places lying far inland. The Northmen Northmen 
directed their attacks especially against the churches and 
monasteries, which were full of treasure and less easily defended 
than fortified towns. Their raids inspired such great terror 
that a special prayer was inserted in the church services: 
''From the fury of the Northmen, good Lord, deliver us." 

At first the incursions of the Northmen took place only in 
summer, but before long they began to winter in the lands which 
they visited. Year by year their fleets became ^^^ North- 
larger, and their attacks changed from mere forays men in 
of pirates to well-organized expeditions of conquest S(?oUand 
and colonization. Early in the ninth century and the 
we find them making permanent settlements in *^^ ^ 
Ireland, and for a time bringing a considerable part of that 
country under their control. The first cities on Irish soil, 
including Dublin and Limerick, were founded by the Northmen. 
Almost simultaneously with the attacks on Ireland came those 



398 



The Northmen and the Normans 



on the western coast of Scotland. In the course of their 
westward expeditions the Northmen had aheady discovered 
the Faroe Islands, the Orkneys, the Shetlands and the Hebrides. 
These barren and inhospitable islands received large numbers 
of Norse immigrants and long remained under Scandinavian 
control. 




men in 
Iceland 



Discoveries of the Northmen in the West 

The Northmen soon discovered Iceland, where Irish monks 
had previously settled. Colonization began in 874 a.d.^ One 
The North- ^^ ^^^ most valuable of the sagas — the "Book of 
the Land-taking" — describes the emigration to 
the island and enumerates the Viking chiefs who 
took part in the movement. Iceland soon became almost a 
second Norway in language, literature, and customs. It 
remains to-day an outpost of Scandinavian civilization. 

The first settlement of Greenland was the work of an Ice- 

1 The Icelanders in 1874 a.d. celebrated the thousandth anniversary of the 
Scandinavian settlement of their island. 



I 



The Northmen in the West 399 

lander, Eric the Red, who reached the island toward the end 
of the tenth century. He called the country ^j^^ North- 
Greenland, not because it was green, but because, men in 
as he said, "there is nothing like a good name to 
attract settlers." Intercourse between Greenland and Iceland 
was often dangerous, and at times was entirely interrupted by 
ice. Leif Ericsson, the son of Eric the Red, estabhshed a new 
route of commerce and travel by sailing from Greenland to 
Norway by way of the Hebrides. This was the first voyage 
made directly across the Atlantic. Norway and Greenland 
continued to enjoy a flourishing trade for several centuries. 
After the connection with Norway had been severed, the Green- 
landers joined the Eskimos and mingled with that primitive 
people. 

Two of the sagas give accounts of a voyage which Leif Erics- 
son about 1000 A.D. made to regions lying southward from 
Greenland. In the sagas they are called Hellu- j^e North- 
land (stone-land), Markland (wood-land), and men in 
Vinland. Just what part of the coast of North 
America these countries occupied is an unsolved problem, Leif 
Ericsson and the Greenlanders who followed him seem to have 
reached at least the shores of Labrador, Newfoundland, and 
Nova Scotia. They may have gone even farther southward, 
for the sagas describe regions where the climate was mild enough 
for wild vines and wild wheat to grow. The Northmen, how- 
ever, did not follow up their explorations by lasting settlements. 
Before long all memory of the far western lands faded from the 
minds of men. The curtain fell on the New World, not again 
to rise until the time of Columbus and Cabot. 

142. The Northmen in the East 

In the Viking movement westward across the Atlantic the 
Norwegians took the leading part. They also sailed far north- 
ward, rounding the North Cape and reaching the Arctic ex- 
mouth of the Dwina River in the White Sea. oMhe^'North- 
Viking sailors, therefore, have the credit for under- men 
taking the first voyages of exploration into the Arctic. 



400 The Northmen and the Normans 

The Swedes, on account of their geographical position, 
were naturally the most active in expeditions to eastern lands. 
The North- ^^ ^ ^^^^ early date they crossed the Gulf of 
men in Bothnia and paid frequent visits to Finland. Its 

*° rude inhabitants, the Finns, were related in lan- 

guage, and doubtless in blood also, to the Huns, Magyars, and 
other Asiatic peoples. Sweden ruled Finland throughout the 
Middle Ages. Russia obtained control of the country during 
the eighteenth century, but Swedish influence has made it 
largely Scandinavian in civilization. 

The activities of the Swedes also led them to establish settle- 
ments on the southern shore of the Baltic and far inland along 
The North- ^^^ waterways leading into Russia. An old 
men in Russian chronicler declares that in 862 a.d. the 

Slavs sent an embassy to the Swedes, whom they 
called ''Rus," saying, "Our country is large and rich, but there 
is no order in it ; come and rule over us." The Swedes were not 
slow to accept the invitation. Their leader, Ruric, estabHshed 
a dynasty which reigned in Russia for more than seven hundred 
years. ^ 

The first Russian state centered in the city of Novgorod, 
near Lake Ilmen, where Ruric built a strong fortress.^ Nov- 
Novgorod gorod during the Middle Ages was an important 
and Kiev station on the trade route between Constantinople 

and the Baltic. Some of Ruric's followers, passing southward 
along the Dnieper River, took possession of the small town of 
Kiev. It subsequently became the capital of the Scandinavian 
possessions in Russia. 

The Northmen in Russia maintained close intercourse with 
their mother country for about two centuries. During this 
Scandinavian pe^*iod they did much to open up northeastern 
influence in Europe to the forces of civilization and progress. 

ussia Colonies were founded, -cities were built, commerce 

was fostered, and a stable government was established. Russia 

1 Russia in 1862 a.d. celebrated the millenary of her foundation by Ruric. 

2 The Norse word for "fort" is preserved in the gorod of Novgorod. 



The Northmen in the East 401 

under the sway of the Northmen became for the first time a 

truly European state. 

Having penetrated the wilds of Russia, it was comparatively 

easy for the Northmen to sail down the Russian rivers to the 

Black Sea and thence to Constantinople. Some The North- 

of them went as raiders and several times devas- nien and 

. the Roman 

tated the neighborhood of Constantmople, until Empire in 

bought off by the payment of tribute.^ Many *^® ^^^* 

Northmen also joined the bodyguard of the eastern emperor 

and saw service under his standard in different parts of the 

Mediterranean. 

During the reign of Vladimir, a descendant of Ruric, the 

Christian religion gained its first foothold in Russia. We are 

told that Vladimir, having made up his mind to Christianity 

embrace a new faith, sent commissioners to Rome in Russia, 

988 A D 

and Constantinople, and also to the adherents 
of Islam and Judaism. His envoys reported in favor of the 
Greek Church, for their barbarian imagination had been so 
impressed by the majesty of the ceremonies performed in 
Sancta Sophia that "they did not know whether they were on 
earth or in heaven." Vladimir accepted their report, ordered 
the idols of Kiev to be thrown into the Dnieper, and had him- 
self and his people baptized according to the rites of the 
Greek Church. At the same time he married a sister of the 
reigning emperor at Constantinople. 

Vladimir's decision to adopt the Greek form of Christianity 
is justly regarded as one of the formative influences in Russian 

history. It meant that the Slavs were to come ^ 

•^ . Importance 

under the religious influence of Constantinople, of the con- 
instead of under that of Rome. Furthermore, version of 

.... . Russia 

it meant that Byzantine civilization, then in- 
comparably superior to the rude culture of the western 
peoples, would henceforth gain an entrance into Russia. 
The country profited by this rich civilization and during 
the early part of the Middle Ages took a foremost place 
in Europe. 

1 See page 335. 



402 The Northmen and the Normans 

143. Normandy and the Normans 

No part of western Europe suffered more severely from the 
Northmen than France. They first appeared on the French 
Charlemagne ^oast toward the end of Charlemagne's reign. A 
and the well-known legend relates that the emperor, from 

the window of his palace, once saw the dark 
sails of the Vikings and wept at the thought of the misery 
which these daring pirates would some day inflict upon 
his realm. 

After Charlemagne's death the wars of his grandsons left 
the empire defenseless, and the Northmen in consequence 
The North- redoubled their attacks. They sailed far up the 
men in Seine, the Loire, and the Garonne to plunder and 

ranee murder. Paris, then a small but important city, 

lay in the path of the invaders and more than once suffered at 
their hands. The destruction by the Northmen of many 
monasteries was a loss to civilization, for the monastic estab- 
lishments at this time were the chief centers of learning and 
culture.^ 

The heavy hand of the Northmen also descended on Germany. 
The rivers Scheldt, Meuse, Rhine, and Elbe enabled them to 
The North- proceed at will into the heart of the country, 
men in Liege, Cologne, Strassburg, Hamburg, and other 

ermany great Frankish cities fell before them. Viking 

raiders even plundered Aachen and stabled their horses in the 
church which Charlemagne had built there.^ Thus the ancient 
homeland of the Franks was laid completely waste. 

The history of the Northmen in France began in 911 a.d., 
when the Carolingian king granted to a Viking 
the grant of chieftain, Rollo, dominion over the region about 
9ii^^D^^' ^^^ lower Seine. Rollo on his part agreed to 
accept Christianity and to acknowledge the French 
ruler as his lord. It is said, however, that he would not kneel 
and kiss the king's foot as a mark of homage, and that the 
follower who performed the unwelcome duty did it so awk- 

1 See page 358. 2 See the illustration, page 310. 



Normandy and the Normans 403 

wardly as to overturn the king, to the great amusement of the 
assembled Northmen. The story illustrates the Viking sense 
of independence. 

The district ceded to Rollo developed into what in later 
times was known as the duchy of Normandy. Its Scandinavian 
settlers, henceforth called Normans,^ soon became Duchy of 
French in language and culture. It was amazing Normandy 
to see how quickly the descendants of wild sea-rovers put off 
their heathen ways and made their new home a Christian land, 
noted for its churches, monasteries, and schools. Normandy 
remained practically independent till the beginning of the 
thirteenth century, when a French king added it to his 
possessions.^ 

The Normans helped to found the medieval French monarchy. 

During the tenth century the old Carolingian hne of rulers, 

which had already died out in Germany and Italy, ^ 

1 • T. A 1 -^ The Nor- 

came also to an end in France. A new dynasty mans and 

was then founded by a nobleman named Hugh Hugh Capet, 

987 A.D. 

Capet, who secured the aid of the powerful Norman 
dukes in his efforts to gain the throne. The accession of Hugh 
Capet took place in 987 a.d. His descendants reigned over 
France for almost exactly eight hundred years.^ 

144. Conquest of England by the Danes; Alfred 
the Great 

Even before Egbert of Wessex succeeded in uniting all the 
Anglo-Saxon kingdoms,^ bands of Vikings, chiefly from Den- 
mark, had made occasional forays on the English England 
coast. Egbert kept the Danes at bay, but he died overrun by 
in 839 A.D., and from that time the real invasion * ^ ^^^^ 
of England began. The Danes came over in large numbers, 

1 "Norman" is a softened form of "Northman." 

2 In 191 1 A.D. Normandy celebrated in the ancient capital of Rouen the thou- 
sandth anniversary of its existence. 

3 See pages 315, 317. 

* The abolition of the French monarchy dates from 1792 a.d., when Louis XVI 
was deposed from the throne. 
B See page 320. 



404 



The Northmen and the Normans 




Alfred the Great 

A lofty, bronze statue by H. Thor- 
neycraft set up at Winchester, Alfred's 
ancient capital. It was dedicated in 
igoi A.D. on the thousandth anniver- 
sary of his death. The inscription 
reads: 

"Alfred found learning dead, 
And he restored it; 
Education neglected. 
And he revived it; 
The laws powerless, 

And he gave them force; 
The Church debased. 

And he raised it; 
The land ravaged by a fear- 
ful enemy, 
From which he delivered it." 



made permanent setUements, and 
soon controlled all England north 
of the Thames. 

Wessex before long experienced 
the full force of the Danish attack. 
The country at this time was 
King Alfred ^^^^d by Alfred, the 
and the grandson of Egbert. 

^^""^^ Alfred came to the 

throne in 871 a.d., when he was 
only about twenty-three years old. 
In spite of his youth, he showed 
himself the right sort of leader 
for the hard-pressed West Saxons. 
For several years fortune favored 
the Danes. Then the tide turned. 
Issuing from the marshes of Som- 
ersetshire, where he had ralUed 
his dispirited troops, Alfred sud- 
denly fell on the enemy and 
gained a signal success. The 
beaten Danes agreed to make 
peace and to accept the religion 
of their conquerors. 

Alfred's victory did not end 
the war. Indeed, almost to the 
end of his reign, the heroic king 
had to face the Vik- 
ings, but he always 
drove them off and even recovered 
some of the territory north of the 
Thames. The EngHsh and Danes 
finally agreed to a treaty dividing 
the country between them. The 
eastern part of England, where 
the invaders were firmly estab- 
lished, came to be called the Dane- 



The Danelaw 



Conquest of England by the Danes 405 




ENGLAND UNDER 
ALFRED THE GREAT 



Scale of English Miles 



OLY ISLE 

disfarne) 



6 10 20^ 30 60 

EXPLANATION 



English ^^ 
Dane. ^ 
Welsh I 1 



Longitude West 2 from Greenwich 



4o6 



The Northmen and the Normans 



Civilizing 
activities of 
Alfred 



law, because here the Danish, and not the Anglo-Saxon, 'law 
prevailed. In the Danelaw the Danes have left memorials 
of themselves in local names ^ and in the bold, adventurous 
character of the inhabitants. 

It was a well-nigh ruined country which Alfred had now to 
rule over and build up again. His work of restoration invites 
comparison with that of Charlemagne. 
Alfred's first care was to 
organize a fighting force 
always ready at his call 
to repel invasion. He also created an 
efficient fleet, which patrolled the 
coast and engaged the Vikings on 
their own element. He had the laws 
of the Anglo-Saxons collected and re- 
duced to writing, taking pains at the 
same time to see that justice was 
done between man and man. He did 
much to rebuild the ruined churches 
and monasteries. Alfred labored with 
especial diligence to revive education 
among the English folk. His court 
at Winchester became a literary 
center where learned men wrote and 
taught. The king himself mastered 
Latin, in order that he might translate Latin books " into 
the English tongue. So great were Alfred's services in this 
direction that he has been called "the father of Enghsh 
prose." 

Alfred alone of Enghsh rulers bears the title of ''the Great." 
He well deserves it, not only for what he did but for what he 
Alfred's was. Through the mists of ten centuries his 

character figure still looms large. It is the figure of a brave, 

patient, and modest man, who wore himself out in the service 
of his people. The oft-quoted words which he added to one of 

1 The east of England contains more than six hvindred names of towns ending 
in hy (Danish "town"); compare by-law, originally a law for a special town. 




Alfred's Jewel 

Ashmolean Museum, Oxford 

A jewel of blue enamel inclosed 
in a setting of gold, with the 
words around it " Alfred had me 
wrought." Found at Athelney in 
the seventeenth century. 



Conquest of England by the Danes 407 

his translations form a fitting epitaph to this noble king: ''My 
wish was to live worthily as long as I lived, and after my life 
to leave to them that should come after, my memory in good 
works." His wish has been fulfilled. 

About seventy-five years after Alfred's death the Danes 
renewed their invasions. It then became necessary to buy 
them off with an annual tribute called the Dane- From Alfred 
geld. Early in the eleventh century Canute, the *® *^® ^°^" 
son of a Danish king, succeeded in establishing quest, 90i- 
himself on the English throne (10 16-103 5 a.d.). ^^^^ '^•^• 
His dynasty did not last long, however, and at length the old 
West-Saxon line was restored in the person of Edward the 
Confessor (or "the Saint"). Edward had spent most of his 
early hfe in Normandy, and on coming to England brought 
with him a large following of Normans, whom he placed in 
high positions. During his reign (1042-1066 a.d.) Norman 
nobles and churchmen gained a foothold in England, thus 
preparing the way for the Norman conquest of the country. 

145. Norman Conquest of England; William 
the Conqueror 

Edward the Confessor having left no direct heirs, the choice 
of his successor fell lawfully upon the Witenagemot,^ as the 
national assembly of noblemen and higher clergy Harold and 
was called. This body chose as king, Harold, William 
earl of Wessex, the leading man in England. Harold's right 
to the succession was disputed by William, duke of Normandy, 
who declared that the crown had been promised to him by his 
cousin, the Confessor. William also asserted that Harold had 
once sworn a solemn oath, over a chest of sacred relics, to sup- 
port his claim to the throne on Edward's death. When word 
came of Harold's election, William wrathfully denounced him 
as a usurper and began to prepare a fleet and an army for the 
invasion of England. 

1 "Meeting of wise men." The word gemot or moot was used for any kind of 
formal meeting. 



4o8 



The Northmen and the Normans 



Normandy under Duke William had become a powerful, 
well-organized state. Norman knights, attracted by promises 
■William's of wide lands and rich booty, if they should con- 
preparations quer, formed the core of WiUiam's forces. Adven- 
turers from every part of France, and even from Spain and 
Italy, also entered his service. The pope blessed the enter- 
prise and sent to William a ring containing a hair from St. 
Peter's head and a consecrated banner. When all was ready 
in the late fall of 1066 a.d., a large fleet, bearing five or six 
thousand archers, foot soldiers, and horsemen, crossed the Chan- 
nel and landed in England. 




A Scene from the Bayeux Tapestry 

Museum of Bayeux, Normandy 

The Bayeux Tapestry, which almost certainly belongs to the time of the Norman Con- 
quest, is a strip of coarse linen cloth, about 230 feet long by 20 inches wide, embroidered in 
worsted thread of eight different colors. There are seventy-two scenes picturing various 
events in the history of the Norman Conquest. The illustration given above represents an 
attack of Norman cavalry on the English shield wall at the battle of Hastings. 

WiUiam at first met no resistance. Harold was far away in 
the north fighting against the Norwegians, who had seized the 
Battle of opportunity to make another descent on the English 

Hastings, coast. Harold defeated them decisively and then 
' • hurried southward to face his new foe. The two 
armies met near Hastings on the road to London. All day they 
fought. The stout English infantry, behind their wall of shields, 
threw back one charge after another of the Norman knights. 
Again and again the duke rallied his men and led them where 
the foe was thickest. A cry arose that he was slain. 'T Uve," 



Norman Conquest of England 



409 




4IO The Northmen and the Normans 

shouted William, tearing off his helmet that all might see his 
face, "and by God's help will conquer yet." At last, with the 
approach of evening, Harold was killed by an arrow; his 
household guard died about him; and the rest of the Enghsh 
took to flight. William pitched his camp on the field of victory, 
and "sat down to eat and drink among the dead." 

The battle of Hastings settled the fate of England. Fol- 
lowing up his victory with relentless energy, William pressed 
William be- on to London. That city, now practically the 
comes king capital of the country, opened its gates to him. 
The Witenagemot, meeting in London offered the throne to 
WilHam. On Christmas Day, 1066 a.d., in Westminster Ab- 
bey the duke of Normandy was crowned king of England. 

What manner of man was William the Conqueror? Tall of 
stature, endowed with tremendous strength, and brave even 
William's to desperation, he seemed an embodiment of the 

personality q[(^ Viking spirit. "No knight under heaven," 
men said truly, "was William's peer." A savage temper and a 
harsh, forbidding countenance made him a terror even to his 
closest followers. "So stern and wrathful was he," wrote an 
Enghsh chronicler, "that none durst do anything against his 
will." Though Wilham never shrank from force or fraud, 
from bloodshed or oppression, to carry out his ends, he yet 
showed himself throughout his reign a patron of learning, a 
sincere supporter of the Church, and a statesman of remarkable 
insight. He has left a lasting impress on English history. 

146. Results of the Norman Conquest 

The coming of the Normans to England formed the third 
and last installment of the Teutonic invasion, 
ment in the Norman merchants and artisans followed Norman 
English soldiers and settled particularly in the southern 

^^°^ ^ and eastern parts of the island. They seem to 

have emigrated in considerable numbers and doubtless added 
an important element to the English population. The Nor- 
mans thus completed the work of the Anglo-Saxons and Danes 
in making England a Teutonic country. 



Results of the Norman Conquest 411 

It must be remembered, however, that the Normans in 
Normandy had received a considerable intermixture of French 
blood and had learned to speak a form of the French „ 

Norman ele- 

language (Norman-French). In England Norman- ment in the 
French naturally was used by the upper and ruhng English 
classes — by the court, the nobihty, and the 
clergy. The English held fast to their own homely language, 
but could not fail to pick up many French expressions, as they 
mingled with their conquerors in churches, markets, and other 
places of public resort. It took about three hundred years for 
French words and phrases to soak thoroughly into their speech. 
The result was a very large addition to the vocabulary of 
English. 1 

Until the Norman Conquest England, because of its insular 
position, had remained out of touch wdth Continental Europe. 
William the Conqueror and his immediate sue- xjnion of 
cessors were, however, not only rulers of England, England and 
but also dukes of Normandy and subjects of the ^^^^^ y 
French kings. Hence the union of England with Normandy 
brought it at once into the full current of European affairs. 
The country became for a time almost a part of France and 
profited by the more advanced civilization which had arisen 
on French soil. The nobility, the higher clergy, and the officers 
of government were Normans. The architects of the castles 
and churches, the lawyers, and the men of letters came from 
Normandy. Even the commercial and industrial classes were 
largely recruited from across the Channel. 

The Norman Conquest much increased the pope's authority 
over England. The English Church, as has been shown,^ 
was the child of Rome, but during the Anglo- England 
Saxon period it had become more independent and the 
of the Papacy than the churches on the Con- ^^^^^ 
tinent. William the Conqueror, whose invasion of Eng- 
land took place with the pope's approval, repaid his 
obligation by bringing the country into closer dependence 
on the Roman pontiff. 

1 See page 556. 2 See page 325. 



412 The Northmen and the Normans 

Although the Normans settled in England as conquerors, 
yet after all they were near kinsmen of the English and did not 
Fusion of ^^^S keep separate from them. In Normandy a 
English and century and a half had been enough to turn the 
Northmen into Frenchmen. So in England, at 
the end of a Hke period, the Normans became Englishmen. 
Some of the qualities that have helped to make the modern 
English a great people — their love of the sea and fondness for 
adventure, their vigor, self-reliance, and unconquerable spirit — 
are doubtless derived in good part from the Normans. 

147. Norman Conquest of Southern Italy and Sicily 

The conquest of England, judged by its results, proved to 
be the most important undertaking of the Normans. But 
Norman during this same eleventh century they found 

expansion another field in which to display their energy 
southward ^^^ daring. They turned southward to the 
Mediterranean and created a Norman state in Italy and 
Sicily. 

The unsettled condition of Italy ^ gave the Normans an 
opportunity for interference in the affairs of the country. The 
Conquests founding of Norman power there was largely the 
of Robert work of a noble named Robert Guiscard (''the 
uiscar Crafty"), a man almost as celebrated as William 

the Conqueror. He had set out from his home in Normandy 
with only a single follower, but his valor and shrewdness soon 
brought him to the front. Robert united the scattered bands 
of Normans in Italy, who w^ere fighting for pay or plunder, 
and wrested from the Roman Empire in the East its last ter- 
ritories in the peninsula. Before his death (1085 a.d.) most 
of southern Italy had passed under Norman rule. 

Robert's brother, Roger,, crossed the strait of Messina and 
Roger began the subjugation of Sicily, then a Moslem 

Guiscard's possession. Its recovery from the hands of "infi- 
conquests ^els" was considered by the Normans a work 
both pleasing to God and profitable to themselves. By the 

1 See page 317. 



Norman Conquest of Southern Italy and Sicily 413 

close of the eleventh century they had finally established their 
rule in the island. 

The conquests of the Normans in southern Italy and Sicily 
were united into a single state, which came to be known as 
the kingdom of the Two Sicilies. The Normans Kingdom 
governed it for only about one hundred and fifty of the 
years, but under other rulers it lasted until the ^^ ^^ ®^ 
middle of the nineteenth century, when the present kingdom of 
Italy came into existence. 

The kingdom of the Two Sicilies was well-governed, rich, 
and strong. Art and learning flourished in the cities of Naples, 
Salerno, and Palermo. Southern Italy and Sicily Gorman 
under the Normans became a meeting-point of culture in 
Byzantine and Arabic civilization. The Norman * ® °^* 
kingdom formed an important channel through which the 
wisdom of the East flowed to the North and to the West. 

148. The Normans in European History 

The conquests of the Normans in England, Italy, and Sicily 
were effected after they had become a Christian and a French- 
speaking people. In these lands they were the Norman 
armed missionaries of a civilization not their faculty of 
own. The Normans, indeed, invented httle and * *Pt*tio^ 
borrowed much. But, like the Arabs, they were more than 
simple imitators. In language, literature, art, religion, and 
law what they took from others they improved and then spread 
abroad throughout their settlements. 

It seems at first sight remarkable that a people who occu- 
pied so much of western Europe should have passed away. 
Normans as Normans no longer exist. They Assimilation 
lost themselves in the kingdoms which they of the 
founded and among the peoples whom they sub- 
dued. Their rapid assimilation was chiefly the consequence 
of their small numbers: outside of Normandy they were too 
few long to maintain their identity. 

If the Normans themselves soon disappeared, their influence 
was more lasting. Their mission, it has been well said, was 



414. The Northmen and the Normans 

to be leaders and energizers of society — ''the little leaven 
Norman that leaveneth the whole lump." The peoples of 

influence medieval Europe owed much to the courage and 

martial spirit, the genius for government, and the reverence 
for law, of the Normans. In one of the most significant move- 
ments of the Middle Ages — the crusades — they took a prom- 
inent part. Hence we shall meet them again. 

Studies 

I. What events are associated with the following dates: 988 A.D.; 862 a.d.; 
1066 A.D.; 1000 A.D.; and 987 a.d.? 2. What was the origin of the geographical 
names Russia, Greenland, Finland, and Normandy? 3. Mention some of the 
striking physical contrasts between the Arabian and Scandinavian peninsulas. 
4. Why has the Baltic Sea been called a "secondary Mediterranean"? 5. How 
does it happen that the gulf of Finland is often frozen over in winter, while 
even the northernmost of the Norse fiords remain open? 6. Why is an acquaint- 
ance with Scandinavian mythology, literature, and history especially desirable 
for EngUsh-speaking peoples? 7. What is meant by the "berserker's rage"? 
8. What names of our weekdays are derived from the names of Scandinavian 
deities? 9. Compare the Arab and Scandinavian conceptions of the future state 
of departed warriors. 10. What is meant by "sea-power"? What people possessed 
it during the ninth and tenth centuries? 1 1 . Compare the invasions of the North- 
men with those of the Germans as to (a) causes, (b) area covered, and (c) results. 
12. What was the significance of the fact that the Northmen were not Christians 
at the time when they began their expeditions? 13. Show how the voyages of the 
Northmen vastly increased geographical knowledge. 14. Show that the Russian 
people have received from Constantinople their writing, rehgion, and art. 15. 
Mention three conquests of England by foreign peoples before 1066 a.d. Give for 
each conquest the results and the approximate date. 16. On the map, page 405, 
trace the boundary Kne between Alfred's possessions and those of the Danes. 17. 
Compare Alfred and Charlemagne as civilizing kings. 18. Compare Alfred's 
cession of the Danelaw with the cession of Normandy to RoUo. 19. Why is Hast- 
ings included among "decisive"" battles? 20. "We English are not ourselves but 
somebody else." Comment on this statement. 21. What is meant by the "Nor- 
man graft upon the sturdy Saxon tree"? 22. What settlements of the Northmen 
most influenced European history? 23. Compare the Norman faculty of adapta- 
tion with that of the Arabs. 



CHAPTER XVIII 
FEUDALISM 

149. Rise of Feudalism 

The ninth century in western Europe was, as we have learned,^ 
a period of violence, disorder, and even anarchy. Charlemagne 
for a time had arrested the disintegration of society 
which resulted from the invasions of the Germans, 
and had united their warring tribes under something like a cen- 
tralized government. But his work, it has been well said, was 
only a desperate rally in the midst of confusion. After his death 
the CaroKngian Empire, attacked by the Northmen and other 
invaders and weakened by civil conflicts, broke up into separate 
kingdoms. 

Charlemagne's successors in France, Germany, and Italy 
enjoyed httle real authority. They reigned, but did not rule. 
Under the conditions of the age, it was impossible Decline of 
for a king to govern with a strong hand. The the royal 
absence of good roads or of other easy means of 
communication made it difficult for him to move troops quickly 
from one district to another, in order to quell revolts. Even 
had good roads existed, the lack of ready money would have 
prevented him from maintaining a strong army devoted to his 
interests. Moreover, the king's subjects, as yet not welded 
into a nation, felt toward him no sentiments of loyalty and 
affection. They cared far less for their king, of whom they 
knew little, than for their own local lords who dwelt near 
them. 
'^ The decline of the royal authority, from the ninth century 
onward, meant that the chief functions of govern- increased 
ment would be more and more performed by the power of the 
nobles, who were the great landowners of the king- 
dom. Under Charlemagne these men had been the king's ofii- , 

1 See page 312. 
415 



^ 



416 Feudalism 

cials, appointed by him and holding office at his pleasure. 
Under his successors they tended to become almost independent 
princes. In proportion as this change was accomplished during 
the Middle Ages, European society entered upon the stage of 
feudalism.^ 

Feudalism in medieval Europe was not a unique develop- 
ment. Parallels to it may be found in other parts of the world. 
Parallels to Whenever the state becomes incapable of protect- 
European ing Hfe and property, powerful men in each locahty 
will themselves undertake this duty; they will 
assume the burden of their own defense and of those weaker 
men who seek their aid. Such was the situation in ancient 
Egypt for several hundred years, in medieval Persia, and in 
modern Japan until about two generations ago. 

European feudalism arose and flourished in the three coun- 
tries which had formed the Carohngian Empire, that is, in 
Extent of France, Germany, and northern Italy. It also 

European spread to Bohemia, Hungary, and the Christian 
states of Spain. Toward the close of the eleventh 
century the Normans transplanted it into England, southern 
Italy, and Sicily. During the twelfth and thirteenth centuries 
the crusaders introduced it into the kingdoms which they 
founded in the East.^ Still later, in the fourteenth century, 
the Scandinavian countries became acquainted with feudalism. 
Throughout this wide area the institution, though varying end- 
lessly in details, presented certain common features. 

150. Feudalism as a System of Local Government 

The basis of feudal society was usually the landed estate. 
Here lived the feudal noble, surrounded by dependents over 
Feudal whom he exercised the rights of a petty sovereign, 

sovereignty jjg could tax them; he could require them to give 
him military assistance; he could try them in his courts. A 

1 The word has nothing to do with "feuds," though these were common enough 
in feudal times. It comes from the medieval Latin Jeudum, from which are derived 
the French fief and the EngUsh fee. 

2 See pages 472, 478. 



Feudalism as a System of Local Government 417 

great noble, the possessor of many estates, even enjoyed 
the privilege of declaring war, making treaties, and coining 
money. How, it will be asked, did these rights and privileges 
arise? 

Owing to the decay of commerce and industry, land had be- 
come practically the only form of wealth in the early Middle 
Ages. The king, who in theory was absolute feudal 
owner of the soil, would pay his officials for their tenure of 
services by giving them the use of a certain amount 
of land. In the same way one who had received large estates 
would parcel them out among his followers, in return for their 
support. Sometimes an unscrupulous noble might seize the 
lands of his neighbors and compel them to become his tenants. 
Sometimes, too, those who owned land in their own right might 
surrender the title to it in favor of a noble, who then became 
their protector. 

An estate in land which a person held of a superior lord, 
on condition of performing some ''honorable" service, was 

called a fief. At first the tenant received the fief ^^ ^ ^ 

Tne fief 
only for a specified term of years or for his life- 
time; but in the end it became inheritable. On the death 
of the tenant his eldest son succeeded him in possession. 
This right of the first-born son to the whole of the father's 
estate was known as primogeniture.^ If a man had no legal 
heir, the fief went back to its lord. 

The tie which bound the tenant who accepted a fief to the 
lord who granted it was called vassalage. Every holder of 

land was the vassal of some lord. At the apex of __ , 

^ Vassalage 

the feudal pyramid stood the king, the supreme 
landlord, who was supposed to hold his land from God; below 
the king stood the greater lords (dukes, marquises, counts, and 
barons), with large estates; and below them stood the lesser 
lords, or knights, whose possessions were too small for further 
subdivision. 

1 The practice of primogeniture has now been abolished by the laws of the 
various European countries and is not recognized in the United States. It still 
prevails, however, in England. 



41 8 Feudalism 

The vassal, first of all, owed various services to the lord. In 
time of war he did garrison duty at the lord's castle and joined 
Personal ^^^ ^^ military expeditions. In time of- peace 

services of the vassal attended the lord on ceremonial occa- 
sions, gave him the benefit of his advice, when 
required, and helped him as a judge in trying cases. 

Under certain circumstances the vassal was also compelled to 
make money payments. When a new heir succeeded to the 
The vassal's ^^^' ^^^ ^^^^ received from him a sum usually 
money equivalent to one year's revenue of the estate. 

paymens ^j^.^ payment was called a "relief." Again, if a 
man sold his fief, the lord demanded another large sum from the 
purchaser, before giving his consent to the transaction. Vassals 
were also expected to raise money for the lord's ransom, in case 
he was made prisoner of war, to meet the expenses connected 
with the knighting of his eldest son, and to provide a dowry for 
his eldest daughter. Such exceptional payments went by the 
name of "aids." 

The vassal, in return for his services and payments, looked to 
the lord for the protection of life and property. The lord agreed 
The lord's ^^ secure him in the enjoyment of his fief, to guard 
duty to the him against his enemies, and to see that in all 
matters he received just treatment. This w^as no 
slight undertaking. 

The ceremony of homage ^ symbolized the whole feudal rela- 
tionship. One who proposed to become a vassal and hold a 

fief came into the lord's presence, bareheaded 
Homage 

and unarmed, knelt dow^n, placed his hands between 

those of the lord, and promised henceforth to become his "man." 

The lord then kissed him and raised him to his feet. After the 

ceremony the vassal placed his hand upon the Bible or upon 

sacred relics and swore to remain faithful to his lord. This 

was the oath of '* fealty." The lord then gave the vassal 

some object — a stick, a clod of earth, a lance, or a glove — 

in token of the fief with the possession of which he was now 

"invested." 

1 Latin homo, "man," 



I 



Feudal Justice 419 

It is clear that the feudal method of land tenure, coupled 
with the custom of vassalage, made in some degree for security 
and order. Each noble was attached to the lord ^ , , 

Feudal 
above him by the bond of personal service and the government a 

oath of fidelity. To his vassals beneath him he ^^^^y*^ ^""^ 
was at once protector, benefactor, and friend. 
Unfortunately, feudal obligations were far less strictly observed 
in practice than in theory. Both lords and vassals often broke 
their engagements, when it seemed profitable to do so. Hence 
they had many quarrels and indulged in constant warfare. 
But feudahsm, despite its defects, was better than anarchy. 
The feudal lords drove back the pirates and hanged the brigands 
and enforced the laws, as no feeble king could do. They pro- 
vided a rude form of local government for a rude society. 

151. Feudal Justice 

Feudahsm was not only a system of local government; it 
was also a system of local justice. Knights, barons, counts, 
and dukes had their separate courts, and the king peudaHsm as 
had his court above all. Cases arising on the a system of 
lord's estate were tried before him and the vassals 
whom he called to his assistance in giving justice. Since most 
wrongs could be atoned for by the payment of a fine, the con- 
duct of justice on a large fief produced a considerable income. 
The nobles, accordingly, regarded their judicial rights as a 
valuable -property, which they were loath to surrender to the 
state. 

The law followed in a feudal court was largely based on old 
Germanic customs. The court did not act in the public interest, 
as with us, but waited until the plaintiff requested judicial ad- 
its service. Moreover, until the case had been ministration 
decided, the accuser and the accused received the same treat- 
ment. Both were imprisoned; and the plaintiff who lost his 
case suffered the same penalty which the defendant, had he 
been found guilty, would have undergone. 

Unlike a modern court, again, the feudal court did not require 
the accuser to prove his case by calling witnesses and having 



420 Feudalism 

them give testimony. The burden of proof lay on the accused, 

„, , who had to clear himself of the charge, if he 

The oath , , ^ ^ ^ , . , . ^ ' 

could do so. In one form of trial it was enough 

for him to declare his innocence under oath, and then to bring 

in several ''oath-helpers," sometimes relatives, but more often 

neighbors, who swore that they believed him to be telling the 

truth. The number of these ^'oath-helpers" varied according 

to the seriousness of the crime and the rank of the accused. 

This method w^as hardly as unsatisfactory as it seems to be, for 

a person of evil reputation might not be able to secure the 

required number of friends who would commit perjury on his 

behalf. To take an oath was a very soliemn proceeding; it 

was an appeal to God, by which a man called down on himself 

divine punishment if he swore falsely. 

The consequences of a fal§e oath were not apparent at once. 
Ordeals, however, formed a method of appealing to God, the 
results of which could be immediately observed. 
A common form of ordeal was by fire. The 
accused walked barefoot over live brands, or stuck his hand into 
a flame, or carried a piece of red-hot iron for a certain distance. 
In the ordeal by hot water he plunged his arm into boiling water. 
A man established his innocence through one of these tests, if 
the wound healed properly after three days. The ordeal by cold 
water rested on the belief that pure water would reject the crim- 
inal. Hence the accused was thrown bound into a stream: if 
he floated he was guilty; if he sank he was innocent and had to 
be rescued. Though a crude method of securing justice, ordeals 
were doubtless useful in many instances. The real culprit 
would often prefer to confess, rather than incur the anger of 
God by submitting to the test. 

A form of trial which especially appealed to the warlike nobles 
was the judicial duel.^ The accuser and the accused fought 
The judicial with each other; and the conqueror w^on the case. 
^^^^ God, it w^as believed, would give victory to the 

innocent party, because he had right on his side. When one 

1 Sir Walter Scott's novel, Ivanhoe (chapter xliii), contains an account of a 
judicial duel. 



Feudal Justice 



421 



of the adversaries could not fight, he secured a champion to 
take his place. Though the judicial duel finally went out of 
use in the law courts, it still continued to be employed pri- 
vately, as a means 
of settling disputes 
which involved a 
man's honor. The 
practice of dueling is 
only now dying out 
in civilized communi- 
ties. 

Oaths, ordeals, and 
duels formed an in- 
heritance from Ger- 
manic 
antiqui- 
ty.^ They offered a 
sharp contrast to 
Roman law, which 
acted in the public 
interest, balanced evi- 
dence, and sought only 
to get at the truth. 
After the middle of the twelfth century the revival of the study 
of Roman law, as embodied in Justinian's code,^ led gradually 
to the abandonment of most forms of appeal to the judgment 
of God. At the same time the kings grew powerful enough 
to take into their own hands the administration of justice. 



Feudal and 
Roman law 




Trial by Combat 

From a manuscript of the fifteenth century. 



The 



152. Feudal Warfare 

Feudalism, once more, was a system of local defense, 
knight must guard his small estate, the baron his 
barony, the count his county, the duke his duchy. 
At the lord's bidding the vassal had to follow 
him to war, either alone or with a certain num- 
ber of men, according to the size of the fief. But this assist 

1 See page 326. . * See page 331. 



Feudalism 
as a system 
of local 
defense 



422 



Feudalism 



The feudal 
army 



ance was limited. A vassal served only for a definite period 
(varying from one month to three in the year), and then only 
within a reasonable distance from the lands for which he did 
homage. These restrictions made it difficult to conduct a 
lengthy campaign, or one far removed from the vassal's fief, 
unless mercenary soldiers were employed. 

The feudal army, as a rule, consisted entirely of cavalry. 
Such swiftly moving assailants as the Northmen and the Mag- 
yars could best be dealt 
with by mounted men 
who could 
bring them to 
bay, compel them to fight, 
and overwhelm them by 
the shock of the charge. 
In this way the foot sol- 
diers of Charlemagne's 
time came to be replaced 
by the mailed horsemen 
who for four centuries or 
more dominated European 
battlefields. 

The armor used in the 
Middle Ages was grad- 
ually perfected, until at length the knight became a Hving 
fortress.^ In the early feudal period he wore a cloth or leather 
Arms and tunic covered with iron rings or scales, and an 
armor jj-qj^ ^.g^p ^j^-jj ^ose guard. About the beginning 

of the twelfth century he adopted chain mail, with a hood of 
the same material for the head. During the fourteenth century 
the knight began to wear heavy plate armor, weighing fifty 
pounds or more, and a helmet with a visor which could be 
raised or lowered. Thus completely incased in metal, pro- 
vided with shield, lance, straight sword or battle-ax, and 
mounted on a powerful horse, the knight could ride down 
almost any number of poorly armed peasants. Not till the 

1 See the illustrations, pages 408, 421, 422, 473. 




Mounted Knight 

Seal of Robert Fitzwalter, showing a mounted 
knight in complete mail armor; date about 1265 a.d. 



Feudal Warfare 423 

development of missile weapons — the longbow, and later 
the musket — did the foot soldier resume his importance 
in warfare. The feudal age by this time was drawing to 
a close. 

The nobles regarded the right of waging w^ar on one another 
as their most cherished privilege. Fighting became almost a 
form of business enterprise, which enriched the prevalence 
lords and their retainers through the sack of castles, of private 
the plunder of villages, and the ransom of prisoners. 
Every hill became a stronghold and every plain a battlefield. 
Such neighborhood warfare, though rarely very bloody, spread 
terrible havoc throughout the land. 

The Church, to its great honor, Hfted a protesting voice 
against this evil. It proclaimed a "Peace of God" and forbade 
attacks on all defenseless people, including priests, j^ie Peace 
monks, pilgrims, merchants, peasants, and women, and Truce 
But it was found impossible to prevent the feudal 
lords from warring with each other, even though they w^ere 
threatened with the eternal torments of Hell; and so the Church 
tried to restrict what it could not altogether aboHsh. A "Truce 
of God" was established. All men were to cease fighting from 
Wednesday evening to Monday morning of each week, during 
Lent, and on various holy days. The truce w^ould have given 
Christendom peace for about tw^o hunded and forty days each 
year; but it seems never to have been strictly observed except 
in limited areas. 

As the power of the kings increased in western Europe, they 
naturally sought to put an end to the constant fighting between 
their subjects. The Norman rulers of Normandy, Abolition 
England, and Sicily restrained their turbulent of private 
nobles with a strong hand. Peace came later ^^ 

in most parts of the Continent; in Germany, "fist right" 
(the rule of the strongest) prevailed until the end of the 
fifteenth century. The abolition of private war was the 
first step in Europe toward universal peace. The second 
step — the abolition of pubHc war between nations — is yet 
to be taken. 



424 



Feudalism 



153. The Castle and Life of the Nobles 

The outward mark of feudalism was the castle,^ where the lord 
resided and from which he ruled his fief. In its earliest form 




A High Angle To wen 'KSntrance Gale S. Gate /rom Escarpm ent 

^^ Smaller SideTov^er "L.Counterscarpe "V.T. Flanking Towers 

C.CD.D. Corner Tower "N.Aee/) V. Outer Towers, 

^.Outer Enceiplefirlower Court N. Escarpment ^.Connecting Wal/ 

F- WW/ O. Poste.rn Tower ^ Stockade in River 

Cj.li,Bui/dmg% in LowerCouri P. Postern Gate ZZ GreatDitches. 
1. Moat KiR-ParapetWa/is 

Plan of Chateau Gaillard 

The plan is intended to represent that of a typical castle, as 
the plan of Kirkstall Abbey represents that of a typical monastery. 

the castle was simply a wooden blockhouse placed on a mound 
Develop- ^^^ surrounded by a stockade. About the begin- 

mentofthe ning of the twelfth century the nobles began to 
castle h\i\\d in stone, which would better resist fire and the 

assaults of besiegers. A stone castle consisted at first of a single 
tower, square or round, with thick walls, few windows, and often 

iThe French form of the word is chateau. 



The Castle and Life of the Nobles 



425 



with only one room to each story.^ As engineering skill in- 
creased, several towers were built and were then connected 
by outer and inner walls. The castle thus became a group of 
fortifications, which might cover a wide area. 









MW^\^i 






PlEKREFONDS 



^^'^ mk 



A castle near Paris, built about 1400 a.d. by a brother of the king of 
France. It was dismantled in 1632 a.d., but was carefully restored in the 
nineteenth century by order of Napoleon III. The exterior faithfully re- 
produces the appearance of a medieval fortress. 

Defense formed the primary purpose of the castle. Until 
the introduction of gunpowder and cannon, the only siege 
engines employed were those known in ancient The castle 
times. They included machines for hurling heavy as a fortress 
stones and iron bolts, battering rams, and movable towers, 
from which the besiegers crossed over to the walls. Such 
engines could best be used on firm, level ground. Consequently, 
a castle would often be erected on a high cliff or hill, or on an 
island, or in the center of a swamp. A castle without such nat- 
ural defenses would be surrounded by a deep ditch (the "moat"), 
usually filled with water. If the besiegers could not batter 
down or undermine the massive walls, they adopted the slower 
method of a blockade and tried to starve the garrison into 



1 A good example is the "White Tower," which forms a part of the Tower of 
London. It was built by William the Conqueror. See the illustration, page 498. 




Chateau Gaillard (Restored) 

The finest of all medieval castles. Located on a high hill overlooking the Seine, about 
twenty miles from Rouen. Built by Richard the Lion-hearted within a twelvemonth 
(1197-1198 A.D.) and by him called " Saucy Castle." It was captured a few years later 
by the French king, Philip Augustus, and was dismantled early in the seventeenth century. 
The castle consisted of three distinct series of fortifications, besides the keep, which in 
this case was merely a strong tower. 



The Castle and Life of the Nobles 



427 



surrendering. But ordinarily a well-built, well-provisioned 
castle was impregnable. Behind its frowning battlements even 
a petty lord could defy a royal army. 

A visitor to a medieval castle crossed the drawbridge over 
the moat and approached the narrow doorway, which was pro- 
tected by a tower on each side. If he was admitted, a castle 
the iron grating ("portcuUis") rose slowly on its described 
creaking pulleys, the heavy, wooden doors swung open, and he 
found himself in the courtyard commanded by the great central 
tower ("keep"), where the 
lord and his family Hved, 
especially in time of war. 
At the summit of the keep 
rose a platform whence the 
sentinel surveyed the coun- 
try far and wide; below, 
two stories underground, 
lay the prison, dark, damp, 
and dirty. As the visitor 
walked about the court- 
yard, he came upon the 
hall, used as the lord's 




King and Jester 

From a manuscript of the early fifteenth century. 



residence in time of peace, the armory, the chapel, the kitchens, 
and the stables. A spacious castle might contain, in fact, all 
the buildings necessary for the support of the lord's servants 
and soldiers. 

The medieval castle formed a good fortress, but a poor home. 
Its small rooms, Hghted only by narrow windows, heated only 
by fireplaces, badly ventilated, and provided with ^^^ ^^g^j^ 
little furniture, must have been indeed cheerless, as a 
Toward the close of the feudal period, when life 
became more luxurious, the castle began to look less like a dun- 
geon. Windows were widened and provided with panes of 
painted glass, walls were hung with costly tapestries, and floors 
were covered with thick Oriental rugs. The nobles became 
attached to their castle homes and often took their names from 
those of their estates. 



residence 



428 Feudalism 

Life within the castle was very dull. There were some games, 
especially chess, which the nobles learned from the Moslems. 
Amusements Banqueting, however, formed the chief indoor 
of the nobles amusement. The lord and his retainers sat down 
to a gluttonous feast and, as they ate and drank, watched the 
pranks of a professional jester or hstened to the songs and music 
of ministrels or, it may be, heard with wonder the tales of far- 
off countries brought by some returning traveler. Outside 
castle walls a common sport was hunting in the forests and game 
preserves attached to every estate. Deer, bears, and wild 
boars were hunted with hounds; for smaller animals trained 
hawks, or falcons, were employed. But the nobles, as we have 
just seen, found in fighting their chief outdoor occupation and 
pastime. "To play a great game" was their description of a 
battle. 

154. Knighthood and Chivalry 

The prevalence of warfare in feudal times made the use of 
arms a profession requiring special training. A nobleman's 
A rentice- ^^^ served for a number of years, first as a page, 
ship of the then as a squire, in his father's castle or in that of 
^^^^* some other lord. He learned to manage a horse, 

to climb a scaUng ladder, to wield sword, battle-ax, and lance. 
He also waited on the lord's table, assisted him at his toilet, 
followed him in the chase, and attended him in battle. This 
apprenticeship usually lasted from five to seven years. 

When the young noble became of age, he might be made a 
knight, if he deserved the honor and could afford the expense. 
Conferring of The ceremony of conferring knighthood was often 
knighthood most elaborate. The candidate fasted, took a 
bath — the symbol of purification — and passed the eve of his 
admission in prayer. Next morning he confessed his sins, went 
to Mass, and listened to a sermon on the duties of knighthood. 
This ended, his father, or the noble who had brought him up, 
girded him with a sword and gave him the "accolade," that is, 
a blow on the neck or shoulder, at the same time saying, "Be 
thou a good knight." Then the youth, clad in shining armor 



Knighthood and Chivalry 



429 



and wearing golden spurs, mounted his horse and exhibited his 
skill in warlike exercises. If a squire for valorous conduct 
received knighthood on the battlefield, the accolade by stroke 
of the sword formed the only ceremony. 




Falconry 

From a manuscript of the thirteenth century in the Bibliotheque 
Nationale, Paris. 

In course of time, as manners softened and Christian teach- 
ings began to affect feudal society, knighthood developed into 
chivalry. The Church, which opposed the warlike 
excesses of feudalism, took the knight under her 
wing and bade him be always a true soldier of Christ. To the 
rude virtues of fidehty to one's lord and bravery in battle, the 
Church added others. The "good knight" was he who re- 
spected his sworn word, who never took an unfair advantage of 
another, who defended women, widows, and orphans against 
their oppressors, and who sought to make justice and right 
prevail in the world. Chivahy thus marked the union of 
pagan and Christian virtues, of Christianity and the profession 
of arms. 

Needless to say, the " good knight " appears rather in romance 
than in sober history. Such a one was Sir Lancelot, in the 
stories of King Arthur and the Round Table.^ As The Chival- 
Sir Lancelot Hes in death, a former companion ^^^ ^°^® 
addresses him in words which sum up the best in the chivalric 

1 See page 560. 



430 



Feudalism 



code: '"Thou wert the courdiest knight that ever bare shield; 
and thou wert the truest friend to thy lover that ever bestrode 
horse; and thou wert the truest lover among sinful men that 
ever loved woman; and thou wert the kindest man that ever 
struck with sword; and thou wert the goodliest person that 
ever came among press of knights; and thou wert the meekest 
man, and the gentlest, that ever ate in hall among ladies; and 
thou wert the sternest knight to thy mortal foe that ever put 
spear in the rest.'" ^ 

The all-absorbing passion for fighting led to the invention of 
mimic warfare in the shape of jousts and tournaments.^ These 
Jousts and exercises formed the medieval equivalent of the 
tournaments Greek athletic games and the Roman gladiatorial 
shows. The joust was a contest between two knights; the tour- 
nament, between two bands of knights. The contests took 
place in a railed-off space, called the "lists," about which the 
spectators gathered. Each knight wore upon his helmet the 
scarf or color of his lady and fought with her eyes upon him. 
Victory went to the one who unhorsed his opponent or 
broke in the proper manner the greatest number of lances. 
The beaten knight forfeited horse and armor and had to pay 
a ransom to the conqueror. Sometimes he lost his life, espe- 
cially when the participants fought with real weapons and not 
with blunted lances and pointless swords. The Church now 
and then tried to stop these performances, but they remained 
universally popular until the close of the Middle Ages. 

Chivalry arose with feudalism, formed, in fact, the religion of 
Influence of feudaHsm, and passed away only when the changed 
chivalry conditions of society made feudalism an anachro- 

nism.^ While chivalry lasted, it produced some improvement in 

1 Malory, Morte d'Arthur, xxi, 13. See also Tennyson's poem, Sir Galahad, 
for a beautiful presentation of the ideal knight. 

2 Sir Walter Scott's novel, Ivanhoe (chapter xii), contains a description of a 
tournament. 

« Don Quixote, by the Spanish writer, Cervantes (1547-1616 a.d.), is a famous 
satire on chivalry. Our American "Mark Twain" also stripped off the gilt and 
tinsel of chivalry in his amusing story entitled A Connecticut Yankee at the Court of 
King Arthur. 



I 



Feudalism as a System of Local Industry 431 

manners, particularly by insisting on the notion of personal 
honor and by fostering greater regard for women (though only 
for those of the upper class). Our modern notion of the con- 
duct befitting a ''gentleman" goes back to the old chivalric 
code. Chivalry expressed, however, simply the sentiments of 
the warlike nobles. It was an aristocratic ideal. The knight 
despised and did his best to keep in subjection the toiling 
peasantry, upon whose backs rested the real burden of feudal 
society. 

155. Feudalism as a System of Local Industry 

Under the Roman Empire western Europe had been filled 
with flourishing cities.^ The Germanic invasions led to a gradual 
decay of trade and manufacturing, and hence of DecUne of 
the cities in which these activities centered. As urban life 
urban hfe declined, the mass of the population came to live more 
and more in isolated rural communities. This was the great 
economic feature of the early Middle Ages. 

The introduction of feudalism fostered the movement from 
town to country, for feudahsm, as has been shown, rested on 
the soil as its basis. The lord, his family, his ser- FeudaUsm 
vants, and his retainers were supported by the ^^ "^^ ^^® 
income from landed property. The country estate of a lord 
was known as a manor. 

A manor naturally varied in size, according to the wealth of 

its lord. In England perhaps six hundred acres represented the 

extent of an average estate. Every noble had at ^^ 

^ ■' The manor 

least one manor; great nobles might have several 

manors, usually scattered throughout the country; and even 

the king depended on his many manors for the food supply of 

the court. England, during the period following the Norman 

Conquest, contained more than nine thousand of these manorial 

estates.^ 

1 See page 208. 

2 According to Domesday Book (see page 499) there were 9250 manors, of 
which William the Conqueror possessed 1422. His manors lay in about thirty 
counties. 



X 







[|(lli]ii!ilillJiM^ 




Farm Work in the Fourteenth Century 

Plowing. Harrowing. Cutting Weeds. Reaping. 



Feudalism as a System of Local Industry 433 

Of the arable land of the manor the lord reserved as much 

as needful for his own use. The lord's land was called his ' 

"demesne," or domain. The rest of the land he „ 

' Common 

allotted to the peasants who were ms tenants, cultivation of 

They cultivated their holdings in common. A the arable y 

farmer, instead of having his land in one compact 

mass, had it split up into a large number of small strips (usually 

about half an acre each) scattered over the manor, and separated, 

not by fences or hedges, but by banks of unplowed turf. The 

appearance of a manor, when under cultivation, has been likened 

to a vast checkerboard or a patchwork quilt. ^ The reason for 

the intermixture of strips seems to have been to make sure that 

each farmer had a portion both of the good land and of the bad. 

It is obvious that this arrangement compelled all the peasants 

to labor according to a common plan. A man had to sow the 

same kinds of crops as his neighbors, and to till and reap them 

at the same time. Agriculture, under such circumstances, 

could not fail to be unprogressive. 

In other ways, too, agriculture was very backward. Farmers 
did not know how to enrich the soil by the use of fertilizers 
or how to provide for a proper rotation of crops. Farming 
Hence each year they cultivated only two-thirds methods 
of the land, letting the other third lie "fallow" (uncultivated), 
that it might recover its fertihty. It is said that eight or nine 
bushels of grain represented the average yield of an acre. Farm 
animals were small, for scientific breeding had not yet begun. 
A full-grown ox reached a size scarcely larger than a calf of 
to-day, and the fleece of a sheep often weighed less than two 
ounces. Farm implements were few and clumsy. The wooden 
ploughs only scratched the ground. Harrowing was done with 
a hand implement little better than a large rake. Grain was 
cut with a sickle, and grass was mown with a scythe. It took 
five men a day to reap and bind the harvest of two acres. 

Besides his holding of farm land, which in England averaged 
about thirty acres, each peasant had certain rights over the 

^ This "open field" system of agriculture, as it is usually called, still survives in 
some parts of Europe. See the plan of Hitchin Manor, page 435. 



434 Feudalism 

non-arable land of the manor. He could cut a limited amount 
Common use ^^ ^^^ from the meadow. He could turn so many 
of the non- farm animals — cattle, geese, swine — on the waste. 
arable an jj^ ^^^^ enjoyed the privilege of taking so much 
wood from the forest for fuel and building purposes. A 
peasant's holding, which also included a house in the vil- 
lage, thus formed a complete outfit. 

156. The Village and Life of the Peasants 

The peasants on a manor lived close together in one or more 
villages. Their small, thatch-roofed, and one-roomed houses 
A village would be grouped about an open space (the 

described ''green"), or on both sides of a single, narrow 

street. The only important buildings were the parish church, 
the parsonage, a mill, if a stream ran through the manor, and 
possibly a blacksmith's shop. The population of one of these 
villages often did not exceed one hundred souls. 

Perhaps the most striking feature of a medieval village was 
its self-sufficiency. The inhabitants tried to produce at home 
A village as everything they required, in order to avoid the 
self-sufficing uncertainty and expense of trade. The land gave 
them their food; the forest provided them with wood for houses 
and furniture. They made their own clothes of flax, wool, and 
leather. Their meal and flour were ground at the village mill, 
and at the village smithy their farm implements were manu- 
factured. The chief articles which needed to be brought from 
some distant market were salt, used to salt down farm animals 
killed in autumn, iron for various tools, and millstones. Cattle, 
horses, and surplus grain also formed common objects of ex- 
change between manors. 

Life in a medieval village was rude and rough. The peasants 
labored from sunrise to sunset, ate coarse fare, lived in huts. 
Hard lot of and suffered from frequent pestilences. They 
the peasantry ^^^e often the helpless prey of the feudal nobles. 
If their lord happened to be a quarrelsome man, given to fight- 
ing with his neighbors, they might see their lands ravaged, their 
cattle driven off, their village burned, and might themselves 



The Village and Life of the Peasants 435 

be slain. Even under peaceful conditions the narrow, shut-in 
Ufe of the manor could not be otherwise than degrading. 

Yet there is another side to the picture. If the peasants had 
a just and generous lord, they probably led a fairly comfortable 
existence. Except when crops failed, they had an Alleviations 
abundance of food, and possibly wine or cider to of the 
drink. They shared a common life in the work of ^^^^^ ^ ^ 
the fields, in the sports of the village green, and in the services 



iijMfj^M 




Scale of a Mile 
(ea^h. division being an Acre) 



Furlong 



Plan of Hitchin Manor, Hertfordshire 

Lord's demesne, diagonal lines. 

Meadow and pasture lands, dotted areas. 

Normal holding of a peasant, black strips. 

of the parish church. They enjoyed many holidays; it has been 
estimated that, besides Sundays, about eight weeks in every 
year were free from work. Festivities at Christmas, Easter, 
and May Day, at the end of ploughing and the completion of 
harvest, reUeved the monotony of the daily round of labor.^ 

1 See pages 581-582. 



436 Feudalism 

Perhaps these medieval peasants were not much worse off than 
the agricultural laborers in most countries of modern Europe. 

157. Serfdom 

A medieval village usually contained several classes of labor- 
ers. There might be a number of freemen, who paid a fixed 
Freemen rent, either in money or produce, for the use of 

slaves, and their land. Then there might also be a few slaves 
^®^ ^ in the lord's household or at work on his domain. 

y^ By this time, however, slavery had about died out in western 
Europe. Most of the peasants were serfs. 

Serfdom represented a stage between slavery and freedom. 
A slave belonged to his master; he was bought and sold like 
Nature of Other chattels. A serf had a higher position, for 
serfdom Yie could not be sold apart from the land nor could 

his holding be taken from him. He was fLxed to the soil. On 
the other hand a serf ranked lower than a freeman, because he 
X could not change his abode, nor marry outside the manor, nor 
bequeath his goods, without the permission of his lord. 

The serf did not receive his land as a free gift; for the use of 
it he owed certain duties to his master. These took chiefly the 
Obligations form of personal services. He must labor on the 
of the serf lord's domain for two or three days each week, 
and at specially busy seasons, such as ploughing and harvesting, 
he must do extra work. At least half his time was usually de- 
manded by the lord. The serf had also to make certain pay- 
ments, either in money or more often in grain, honey, eggs, 
or other produce. When he ground the wheat or pressed the 
grapes which grew on his land, he must use the lord's mill, 
the lord's wine-press, and pay the customary charge. In 
theory the lord could tax his serfs as heavily and make them 
work as hard as he pleased, but the fear of losing his tenants 
doubtless in most cases prevented him from imposing too 
great burdens on them. 

Serfdom developed during the later centuries of the Roman 
Empire and in the early Middle Ages. It was well established 
by the time of Charlemagne. Most serfs seem to have been 



Decline of Feudalism 437 

the descendants, or at least the successors, of Roman slaves, 
whose condition had gradually improved. The origin of 
serf class was also recruited from the ranks of serfdom 
freemen, who by conquest or because of the desire to gain the 
protection of a lord, became subject to him. Serfdom, how- 
ever, was destined to be merely a transitory condition. By 
the close of medieval times, the serfs in most parts of western 
Europe had secured their freedom.^ 

158. Decline of Feudalism 

Feudalism had a vigorous hfe for about five hundred years. 
Taking definite form early in the ninth century, it flourished 
throughout the later Middle Ages, but became Duration of 
decadent by the opening of the fourteenth century. ^eudaUsm 

As a system of local government, feudahsm tended to pass 

av/ay when the rulers in England, France, and Spain, and later 

in Germany and Italy, became powerful enough 

to put down private warfare, execute justice, and opposed to 

maintain order everywhere in their dominions. feudaUsm: 

•^ the kings 

The kings were always anti-feudal. We shall 

study in a later chapter ^ the rise of strong governments and 

centralized states in western Europe. 

As a system of local industry, feudalism could not survive the 

great changes of the later Middle Ages, when reviving trade, 

commerce, and manufactures had begun to lead 

Forces 

to the increase of wealth, the growth of markets, opposed to 
and the substitution of money payments for those feudalism: 

_ tne cities 

in produce or services. Flourishing cities arose, 
as in the days of the Roman Empire, freed themselves from the 
control of the nobles, and became the homes of Hberty and 
democracy. The cities, like the kings, were always anti-feudal. 
We shall deal with their development in a subsequent chapter.^ 
There was still another anti-feudal force, namely, the Roman 
Church. It is true that many of the higher clergy The Church 
were feudal lords, and that even the monasteries *^^ feudaUsm 
owned vast estates which were parceled out among tenants. 

1 See page 612. 2 See chapter xxii. 3 See chapter xxiii. 



X 



438 Feudalism 

Nevertheless, the Roman Church as a universal organization, 
including men of all ranks and classes, was necessarily opposed 
to feudalism, a local and an aristocratic system. The work 
and influence of this Church will now engage our attention. 

Studies 

I. Write a brief essay on feudal society, using the following words: lord; 
vassal; castle; keep; dungeon; chivalry; tournament; manor; and serf. 2. Ex- 
plain the following terms: vassal; fief; serf; "aid "; homage; squire; investiture; 
and "rehef." 3. Look up the origin of the words homage, castle, dungeon, 
and chivalry. 4. "The real heirs of Charlemagne were from the first neither 
the kings of France nor those of Italy or Germany; but the feudal lords." 
Comment on this statement. 5. Why was the feudal system not found in 
the Roman Empire in the East during the Middle Ages? 6. Why has feudalism 
been called "confusion roughly organized"? 7. Contrast feudaUsm as a poUtical 
system with (c) the classical city-states, (b) the Roman Empire, and (c) modern 
national states. 8. What was the effect of feudaUsm on the sentiment of patriot- 
ism? 9. What are some of the advantages and disadvantages of primogeniture 
as the rule of inheritance? 10. Explaia these phrases: "to be in hot water;" "to 
go through fire and water;" and "to haul over the coals." 11. Compare the oaths 
administered to witnesses in modem courts with medieval oaths. 12. Why was 
war the usual condition of feudal society? 13. Compare the "Peace of God" 
with the earlier "Roman Peace" {Pax Romano). 14. Mention some modern 
comforts and luxuries which were unknown in feudal castles. 15. What is the 
present meaning of the word "chivalrous"? How did it get that meaning? 
16. Why has chivalry been called "the blossom of feudalism"? 17. Contrast 
the ideal of a chivalry with that of monasticism. 18. Show that the serf was 
not a slave or a "hired man" or a tenant-farmer paying rent. 



CHAPTER XIX 
THE PAPACY AND THE HOLY ROMAN EMPIRE, 962-1273 A.D.i 

159. Characteristics of the Medieval Church 

A PRECEDING chapter dealt with the Christian Church in 
the East and West during the early Middle Ages. We learned 
something about its organization, belief, and wor- .The Roman 
ship, about the rise and growth of the Papacy, Church 
about monasticism, and about that missionary campaign which 
won all Europe to Christianity. Our narrative extended to the 
middle of the eleventh century, w^hen the quarrel between pope 
and patriarch led at length to the disruption of Christendom. 
We have now to consider the work and influence of the Roman 
Church during later centuries of the Middle Ages. 

The Church at the height of its power held spiritual sway 
over all western Europe. Italy and Sicily, the larger part of 
Spain, France, Germany, Hungary, Poland, the Territorial 
British Isles, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, and Ice- extent of the 
land yielded obedience to the pope of Rome. ^^ 

Membership in the Church was not a matter of free choice. 
All people, except Jews, were required to belong to it. A person 
joined the Church by baptism, a rite usually per- The Church 
formed in infancy, and remained in it as long as *^ universal 
he lived. Every one was expected to conform, at least out- 
wardly, to the doctrines and practices of the Church, and any- 
one attacking its authority was Hable to punishment by the 
state. 

The presence of one Church throughout the western world fur- 
nished a bond of union between European peoples ^^^ church 
during the age of feudahsm. The Church took as inter- 
no heed of political boundaries, for men of all ^***°^^ 
nationalities entered the ranks of the priesthood and joined 

1 Webster, Readings in Medieval and Modern History, chapter x, "Monastic 
Life in the Twelfth Century"; chapter xi, "St. Francis and the Franciscans." 

439 



440 The Papacy and the Empire 

the monastic orders. Priests and monks were subjects of no 
country, but were "citizens of heaven," as they sometimes 
called themselves. Even difference of language counted for 
little in the Church, since Latin was the universal speech of 
the educated classes. One must think, then, of the Church 
as a great international state, in form a monarchy, presided 
over by the pope, and with its capital at Rome. 

The Church in the Middle Ages performed a double task. 
On the one hand it gave the people religious instruction and 
Twofold watched over their morals; on the other hand it 

duties of the played an important part in European politics and 
provided a means of government. Because the 
Church thus combined ecclesiastical and civil functions, it was 
quite unlike all modern churches, whether Greek, Roman, or 
Protestant. Both sides of its activities deserve, therefore, to 
be considered. 

160. Church Doctrine and Worship 

In medieval times every loyal member of the Church accepted 
without question its authority in religious matters. The 
" The gate Church taught a belief in a personal God, all-wise, 
of Heaven " all-good, all-powerful, to know whom was the high- 
est goal of life. The avenue to this knowledge lay through faith 
in the revelation of God, as found in the Scriptures. Since 
the unaided human reason could not properly interpret the 
Scriptures, it was necessary for the Church, through her 
officers, to declare their meaning and set forth what doctrines 
were essential to salvation. The Church thus appeared as 
the sole repository of religious knowledge, as ''the gate of 
heaven." 

Salvation did not depend only on the acceptance of certain 
beliefs. There were also certain acts, called "sacraments," in 
The which the faithful Christian must participate, if 

sacramental he was not to be cut off eternally from God. These 
sys em ^^^^ formed channels of heavenly grace; they 

saved man from the consequences of his sinful nature and filled 
him with "the fullness of divine Hfe." Since priests alone 



Church Doctrine and Worship 441 

could administer the sacraments/ the Church presented itself 

as the necessary mediator between God and man. 

By the thirteenth century seven sacraments were generally 

recognized. Four of these marked critical stages in human Ufe, 

from the cradle to the grave. Baptism cleansed Baptism, 

the child from the taint of original sin and admitted Confirmation, 

, ^, . . . r^ r Matrimony, 

him into the Christian community. Connrma- and Extreme 

tion gave him full Church fellowship. Matrimony Unction 
united husband and wife in holy bonds which might never be 
broken. Extreme Unction, the anointing with oil of one mor- 
tally ill, purified the soul and endowed it with strength to meet 
death. 

Penance held an especially important place in the sacra- 
mental system. At least once a year the Christian must confess 

his sins to a priest. If he seemed to be truly ^ 

1 • 111 1 Penance 

repentant, the priest pronounced the solemn words 

of absolution and then required him to accept some punishment, 
which varied according to the nature of the offense. There was 
a regular code of penalties for such sins as drunkenness, avarice, 
perjury, murder, and heresy. Penances often consisted in 
fasting, reciting prayers, abstaining from one's ordinary amuse- 
ments, or beating oneself with bundles of rods. A man who 
had sinned grievously might be ordered to engage in charitable 
work, to make a contribution in money for the support of the 
Church, or to go on a pilgrimage to a sacred shrine. The more 
distant and difficult a pilgrimage, the more meritorious it was, 
especially if it led to some very holy place, such as Rome or Jeru- 
salem. People might also become monks in order to atone 
for evil-doing. This system of penitential punishment referred 
only to the earthly life; it was not supposed to cleanse the 
soul for eternity. 

The sacrament of the Holy Eucharist, generally known as the 
Mass, formed the central feature of worship. It Holy 
was more than a common meal in commemoration Eucharist 
of the Last Supper of Christ with the Apostles. It was a 

^ In case of necessity baptism might be performed by any lay person of adult 
years and sound mind. 



442 



The Papacy and the Empire 



solemn ceremony, by which the Christian beUeved himself to 
receive the body and blood of Christ, under the form of bread 
and wine.^ The right of the priest to withhold the Eucharist 
from any person, for good cause, gave the Church great power, 
because the failure to partake of this sacrament imperiled one's 
chances of future salvation. It was also supposed that the 
benefits of the ceremony in purifying from sin might be enjoyed 

by the dead in Pur- 
gatory; hence masses 
were often said for the 
repose of their souls. 
The seventh and 
last sacramxcnt, that of 
Ordination, or "Holy 

^ ,. . Orders," 

Ordination . 

admitted 

persons to the priest- 
hood. According to 
the view of the 
Church the rite had 
been instituted by 
Christ, when He chose 
the Apostles and sent 
them forth to preach 
the Gospel. From the 
Apostles, who or- 
dained their succes- 
sors, the clergy in 
all later times re- 
ceived their exalted 
authority. ^ Ordina- 
tion conferred spiritual power and set such an indelible mark 
on the character that one who had been ordained could never 
become a simple layman again. 




Pilgrims to Canterbury 

From a medieval manuscript 

Canterbury with its cathedral appears in the background. 
The shrine of Thomas Becket, archbishop of Canterbury, 
formed a celebrated resort for medieval pilgrims. The 
archbishop had been murdered in the church (irSo a.d.), 
if not at the instigation, at any rate without the opposi- 
tion of King Henry 11, whose policies he opposed. Becket, 
who was regarded as a martyr, soon received canonization. 
Miracles were said to be worked at his grave and at the 
well in which his bloody garments had been washed. He 
remained the most popular saint in England until the 
Protestant Reformation in the sixteenth century, when 
his shrine was destroyed. 



1 This doctrine is known as transubstantiation. In the Roman Church, 
been noted (page 363), wine is not administered to the laity. 
2 Hence the term "Apostohcal Succession." 



has 



Church Doctrine and Worship 443 

The Church did not rely solely on the sacramental system as 
a means to salvation. It was believed that holy persons, called 
saints/ who had died and gone to Heaven, offered Reverence 
to God their prayers for men. Hence the practice ^°^ samts 
arose of invoking the aid of the saints in all the concerns of life. 
The earliest saints were Christian martyrs,^ who had sealed their 
faith with their blood. In course of time many other persons, 
renowned for pious deeds, were exalted to sainthood. The 
making of a new saint, after a rigid inquiry into the merits of 
the person whom it is proposed to honor, is now a privilege 
reserved to the pope. 

High above all the saints stood the Virgin Mary, the Mother 
of God. Devotion to her as the "Queen of Heaven" increased 
rapidly in the Church after the time of Gregory Devotion to 
the Great. The popularity of her cult owed not *^® Virgin 
a little to the influence of chivalry,^ for the knight, who vowed 
to cherish womanhood, saw in the Virgin the ideal woman. 
Everywhere churches arose in her honor, and no cathedral or 
abbey lacked a chapel dedicated to Our Lady. 

The growing reverence for saints led to an increased interest 
in relics. These included the bones of a saint and shreds of his 
garments, besides such objects as the wood or nails 
of the cross on which Christ suffered. Relics were 
not simply mementos; they were supposed to possess miraculous 
power which passed into them through contact with holy persons. 
This belief explains the use of relics to heal diseases, to ward off 
danger, and, in general, to bring good fortune. An oath taken 
upon relics was especially sacred.^ Every church building 
contained a collection of relics, sometimes amounting to thou- 
sands in number, and even private persons often owned them. 

The Church also taught a belief in Purgatory as a state or 
place of probation.^ Here dwelt the souls of those who were 

1 Latin sanctus, ''holy." 

2 See page 234. 

3 See page 431. 

< See pages 407, 418. 

5 The belief in Purgatory is not held by Protestants or by members of the Greek 
Church. 



444 The Papacy and the Empire 

guilty of no mortal sins which would condemn them to Hell, 
but yet were burdened with imperfections which 
prevented them from entering Heaven. Such 

imperfections, it was held, might be removed by the prayers 

of the Hving, and hence the practice arose of praying for the 

dead. 

161. Church Jurisdiction 

The Church had regular courts and a special system of law ^ 
for the trial of offenders against its regulations. Many cases, 
Church which to-day would be decided according to the 

courts civil or criminal law of the state, in the Middle 

Ages came before the ecclesiastical courts. Since marriage 
was considered a sacrament, the Church took upon itself to 
decide what marriages were lawful. It forbade the union of 
first cousins, of second cousins, and of godparents and god- 
children. It refused to sanction divorce, for whatever cause, 
if both parties at the time of marriage had been baptized Chris- 
tians. The Church dealt with inheritance under wills, for a 
man could not make a legal will until he had confessed, and con- 
fession formed part of the sacrament of Penance. All contracts 
made binding by oaths came under Church jurisdiction, because 
an oath was an appeal to God.^ The Church tried those who 
were charged with any sin against rehgion, including heresy, 
blasphemy, the taking of interest (usury), and the practice of 
witchcraft. Widows, orphans, and the famiUes of pilgrims or 
crusaders also enjoyed the special protection of Church courts. 

The Church claimed the privilege of judging all cases which 
involved clergymen. No layman, it was declared, ought to 
" Benefit of interfere with one who, by the sacrament of 
clergy" Ordination, had been dedicated to God. This 

demand of the Church to try its own officers, according to its 
own mild and intelligent laws, seems not unreasonable, when 
we remember how rude were the methods of feudal justice. 
But "benefit of clergy," as the privilege was called, might be 

1 The so-called "canon law." See page 568. 

2 See page 420. 



Church Jurisdiction 445 

abused. Many persons who had no intention of acting as 
priests or monks became clergymen, in order to shield them- 
selves behind the Church in case their misdeeds were exposed. 

An interesting illustration of the power of the Church is 
afforded by the right of ''sanctuary." Any lawbreaker w^ho 
fled to a church building enjoyed, for a limited Right of 
time, the privilege of safe refuge. It was consid- "sanctuary" 
ered a sin against God to drag even the most wicked criminal 
from the altar. The most that could be done was to deny the 
refugee food, so that he might come forth voluntarily. This 
privilege of seeking sanctuary was not without social usefulness, 
for it gave time for angry passions to cool, thus permitting an 
investigation of the charges against an offender. 

Disobedence to the regulations of the Church might be 
followed by excommunication. It was a punishment which cut 
off the offender from all Christian fellowship. He Excommuni- 
could not attend religious services nor enjoy the c^t^o^ 
sacraments so necessary to salvation. If he died excommuni- 
cate, his body could not be buried in consecrated ground. By 
the law of the state he lost all civil rights and forfeited all his 
property. No one might speak to him, feed him, or shelter 
him. This terrible penalty, it is well to point out, was usually 
imposed only after the sinner had received a fair trial and had 
spurned all entreaties to repent.^ 

The interdict, another form of punishment, was directed 
against a particular locality, for the fault of some of the inhab- 
itants who could not be reached directly. In ^ 

Interdict 
time of interdict the priests closed the churches 

and neither married the living nor buried the dead. Of the 
sacraments only Baptism, Confirmation, and Penance were 
permitted. All the inhabitants of the afflicted district were 
ordered to fast, as in Lent, and to let their hair grow long in 
sign of mourning. The interdict also stopped the wheels of 
government, for courts of justice were shut, wills could not be 
made, and public officials were forbidden to perform their duties. 
In some cases the Church went so far as to lay an interdict upon 

1 For two instances of the use of excommunication see pages 459 and 461. 



446 The Papacy and the Empire 

an entire kingdom, whose ruler had refused to obey her man- 
date.^ The interdict has now passed out of use, but excom- 
munication still retains its place among the spiritual weapons 
of the Church. 

162. The Secular Clergy 

Some one has said that in the Middle Ages there were just 
three classes of society: the nobles who fought; the peasants 
The secular "^^^ worked; and the clergy who prayed. The 
and regular latter class was divided into the secular ^ clergy, 
cergy including deacons, priests, and bishops, who lived 

active Hves in the world, and the regular^ clergy, or monks, 
who passed their days in seclusion behind monastery walls. 

It has been already pointed out how early both secular and 
regular clergy came to be distinguished from the laity by 
Position of abstention from money-making activities, differ- 
the clergy ences in dress, and the obligation of celibacy.^ 
Being unmarried, the clergy had no family cares; being free 
from the necessity of earning their own living, they could devote 
all their time and energy to the service of the Church. The 
sacrament of Ordination, which was beheved to endow the 
clergy with divine power, also helped to strengthen their in- 
fluence. They appeared as a distinct order, in whose charge 
was the care of souls and in whose hands were the keys of heaven. 

An account of the secular clergy naturally begins with the 
parish priest, who had charge of a parish, the smallest division 
Parish of Christendom. No one could act as a priest 

priests without the approval of the bishop, but the noble- 

man who supported the parish had the privilege of nominating 
candidates for the position. The priest derived his income 
from lands belonging to the parish, from tithes,^ and from 
voluntary contributions, but as a rule he received little more 

1 For two instances of this sort see page 461. 

2 Latin sceculum, used in the sense of "the world." 

3 Latin regida, a "rule," referring to the rule or constitution of a monastic order. 

4 See page 344. 

5 The tithe was a tenth part of the yearly income from land, stock, and personal 
industry. 



The Secular Clergy 



447 



than a bare living. The parish priest was the only Church 
officer who came continually into touch with the common 
people. He baptized, married, and buried his parishioners. 
For them he celebrated Mass at least once a week, heard 
confessions, and granted absolution. He watched over all their 
deeds on earth and prepared them for the life to come. And if 
he preached little, he seldom failed to set in his own person an 
example of right living. 

The church, with its spire which could be seen afar off and 
its bells which called the faithful to worship, formed the social 
center of the parish. 
Here on Sun- The parish 
days and holy ^^^^^ 
days the people assem- 
bled for the morning and 
evening services. During 
the interval between relig- 
ious exercises they often 
enjoyed games and other • 
amusements in the adjoin- 
ing churchyard. As a 
place of public gathering 
the parish church held 
an important place in 
the life of the Middle 
Ages. 

A group of parishes 
formed a diocese, over which a bishop presided. It was his 




A Bishop ordaining a Priest 

From an English manuscript of the twelfth cen- 
tury. The bishop wears a miter and holds in his 
left hand the pastoral staff, or crosier. His right 
hand is extended in blessing over the priest's head. 



business to look after the property belonging to 



Bishops 



the diocese, to hold the ecclesiastical courts, to 
visit the clergy, and to see that they did their duty. The 
bishop alone could administer the sacraments of Confirmation 
and Ordination. He also performed the ceremonies at the 
consecration of a new church edifice or shrine. Since the 
Church held vast estates on feudal tenure, the bishop was 
usually a territorial lord, owning a vassal's obligations to the 
king or to some powerful noble for his land and himself 



448 The Papacy and the Empire 

ruling over vassals in different parts of the country. As sym- 
bols of his power and digni4:y the bishop wore on his head the 
miter and carried the pastoral staff, or crosier.^ 

Above the bishop in rank stood the archbishop. In Eng- 

. , , . , land, for example, there were two archbishops, one 

Archbishops .' ,r i i i i ^ / 

residmg at York and the other at Canterbury. 

The latter, as ''primate of all England," was the highest 
ecclesiastical dignitary in the land. An archbishop's distinc- 
tive vestment consisted of the pallium, a narrow band of white 
wool, worn around the neck. The pope alone could confer the 
right to wear the pallium. 

The church which contained the official seat or throne ^ of 
The a bishop or archbishop was called a cathedral, 

cathedral j^- -^g^g ordinarily the largest and most magnifi- 

cent church in the diocese.^ 

163. The Regular Clergy 

The regular clergy, or monks, during the early Middle Ages 
belonged to the Benedictine order. By the tenth century, 
Decline of however, St. Benedict's Rule had lost much of its 
monasticism force. As the monasteries increased in wealth 
through gifts of land and goods, they sometimes became centers 
of idleness, luxury, and corruption. The monks forgot their vows 
of poverty; and, instead of themselves laboring as farmers, 
craftsmen, and students, they employed laymen to work for 
them. At the same time powerful feudal lords frequently 
obtained control of the monastic estates by appointing as 
abbots their children or their retainers. Grave danger existed 
that the monasteries would pass out of Church control and 
decline into mere fiefs ruled by worldly men. 

A great revival of monasticism began in 910 a.d., with the 
foundation of the monastery of Cluny in eastern France. The 
The Cluniac monks of Cluny led lives of the utmost self-denial 
revival ^^^ followed the Benedictine Rule in all its strict- 

ness. Their enthusiasm and devotion were contagious; before 

1 See the illustration, page 447. 2 Latin cathedra. 

3 For the architecture of a medieval cathedral see pages 562-565. 



I 



The Regular Clergy 449 

long Cluny became a center from which a reformatory move- 
ment spread over France and then over all western Europe. 
By the middle of the twelfth century more than three hundred 
monasteries looked to Cluny for inspiration and guidance. 

Each of the earher Benedictine monasteries had been an 
isolated community, independent and self-governing. Conse- 
quently, when discipline grew lax or when the abbot -pjjg <« Con- 
proved to be an incapable ruler, it was difficult gregation of 

. Clunv " 

to correct the evils which arose. In the Cluniac 
system, however, all the monasteries formed parts of one organ- 
ization, the "Congregation of Cluny." The abbot of Cluny 
appointed their "priors," or heads, and required every monk 
to pass several years of his monastic life at Cluny itself. This 
monarchical arrangement helps to explain why for two hundred 
years the abbot of Cluny was, next to the pope, the most impor- 
tant churchman in western Europe. 

Other monastic orders arose in the eleventh and twelfth 
centuries. Of these, the most important was the Cistercian, 
founded in 1098 a.d. at Citeaux, nbt far from Cluny. ^j^^ 
The keynote of Cistercian Hfe was the return to a Cistercian 
literal obedience of St. Benedict's Rule. Hence 
the members of the order lived in the utmost simphcity, cooking 
their own meager repasts and wearing coarse woolen garments 
woven from the fleeces of their own sheep. The Cistercians 
especially emphasized the need for manual labor. They wxre 
the best farmers and cattle breeders of the Middle Ages. West- 
ern Europe owes even more to them than to the Benedictines 
for their work as pioneers in the wilderness. "The Cistercians," 
declared a medieval wTiter, "are a model to all monks, a mirror 
for the diligent, a spur to the indolent." 

The whole spirit of medieval monasticism found expression 
in St. Bernard, a Burgundian of noble birth. While still a 
young man he resolved to leave the world and seek g^_ Bernard 
the repose of the monastic life. He entered 1090-1153 
Citeaux, carrying with him thirty companions. 
Mothers are said to have hid their sons from him, and wives 
their husbands, lest they should be converted to monasticism 



450 The Papacy and the Empire 

by his persuasive words. After a few years at Citeaux St. 
Bernard established the monastery of Clairvaux, over which he 
ruled as abbot till his death. His ascetic life, piety, eloquence, 
and ability as an executive soon brought him into prominence. 
People visited Clairvaux from far and near to listen to his 
preaching and to receive his counsels. The monastery flourished 
under his direction and became the parent of no less than sixty- 
five Cistercian houses which were planted in the wilderness. 
St. Bernard's activities widened, till he came to be the most 
influential man in western Christendom. It was St. Bernard 
who acted as an adviser of the popes, at one time deciding 
between two rival candidates for the Papacy, who combated 
most vigorously the heresies of the day, and who by his fiery 
appeals set in motion one of the crusades.^ The charm of his 
character is revealed to us in his sermons and letters, while 
some of the Latin hymns commonly attributed to him are still 
sung in many churches, both Roman Catholic and Protestant. 

164. The Friars 

The history of Christian monasticism exhibits an ever-widen- 
ing social outlook. The early hermits - had devoted themselves, 
Coming of as they believed, to the service of God by retiring 
the fnars ^q |-]^g desert for prayer, meditation, and bodily 

mortification. St. Benedict's wise Rule, as followed by the 
medieval monastic orders, marked a change for the better. It 
did away with extreme forms of self-denial, brought the monks 
together in a common house, and required them to engage in 
daily manual labor. Yet even the Benedictine system had its 
limitations. The monks lived apart from the world and sought 
chiefly the salvation of their own souls. A new conception of 
the monastic life arose early in the thirteenth century, with the 
coming of the friars.^ The aim of the friars was social service. 
They lived active lives in the world and devoted themselves 
entirely to the salvation of others. The foundation of the 
orders of friars was the work of two men, St. Francis in Italy 
and St. Dominic in Spain. 

1 See page 474. - See page 352. 8 Latin Jrater, "brother." 



The Friars 



451 



Twenty-eight years after the death of St. Bernard, St. Francis 
was born at Assisi. As the son of a rich and prominent merchant 
St. Francis had before him the prospect of a fine st. Francis, 
career in the world. But he put away all thoughts iisi (?)-i226 

A D 

of fame and wealth, deserted his gay companions, 
and, choosing "Lady Poverty" as his bride, started out to min- 
ister to lepers and 
social outcasts. One 
day, while attend- 
ing Mass, the call 
came to him to 
preach the Gospel, 
as Christ had 
preached it, among 
the poor and lowly. 
The man's earnest- 
ness and charm of 
manner soon drew 
about him devoted 
followers. After 
some years St. 
Francis went to 
Rome and obtained 
Pope Innocent Ill's 
sanction of his work. 
The Franciscan 
order spread so 
rapidly that even 
in the founder's lifetime there were several thousand members 
in Italy and other European countries. 

St. Francis is one of the most attractive figures in all history. 
Perhaps no other man has ever tried so seriously to imitate in 
his own life the hfe of Christ. St. Francis went st. Francis, 
about doing good. He resembled, in some re- the man 
spects, the social workers and revivalist preachers of to-day. 
In other respects he was a true child of the Middle Ages. 
An ascetic, he fasted, wore a hair-cloth shirt, mixed ashes 




St, Francis blessing the Birds 

From a painting by the Italian artist Giotto. 



452 The Papacy and the Empire 

with his food to make it disagreeable, wept daily, so that his 
eyesight was nearly destroyed, and every night flogged him- 
self with iron chains. A mystic, he lived so close to God and 
nature that he could include within the bonds of his love not 
only men and women, but also animals, trees, and flowers. 
He preached a sermon to the birds and once wrote a hymn 
to praise God for his ''brothers," sun, wind, and fire, and for 
his ''sisters," moon, water, and earth. When told that he had 
but a short time to live, he exclaimed, "Welcome, Sister Death!" 
He died at the age of forty-five, worn out by his exertions and 
self-denial. Two years later the pope made him a saint. 

St. Dominic, unlike St. Francis, was a clergyman and a 
student of theology. After being ordained he went to southern 
St Dominic France and labored there for ten years among a 
1170-1221 heretical sect known as the Albigenses. The 
^■^' order of Dominicans grew out of the little band 

of volunteers who assisted him in the mission. St. Dominic 
sent his followers — at first only sixteen in number — out into 
the world to combat heresy. They met with great success^ 
and at the founder's death the Dominicans had as many as 
sixty friaries in various European cities. 

The Franciscans and Dominicans resembled each other in 
many ways. They were "itinerant," going on foot from place 
Character- ^^ place, and wearing coarse robes tied round the 
istics of the waist with a rope. They were "mendicants," ^ who 
^"^^ possessed no property but lived on the alms of 

the charitable. They were also preachers, who spoke to the 
people, not in Latin, but in the common language of each 
country which they visited. The Franciscans worked especially 
in the "slums" of the cities; the Dominicans addressed them- 
selves rather to educated people and the upper classes. As time 
went on, both orders relaxed the rule of poverty and became 
very wealthy. They still survive, scattered all over the world 
and employed in teaching and missionary activity. ^ 

1 Latin mendicare, "to beg." 

2 In England the Franciscans, from the color of their robes, were called Gray- 
Friars, the Dominicans, Black Friars. 



Power of the Papacy 453 

The friars by their preaching and ministrations did a great 
deal to call forth a religious revival in Europe during the 
thirteenth century. In particular they helped xhe friars 
to strengthen the papal authority. Both orders and the 
received the sanction of the pope; both enjoyed ^P^*^y 
many privileges at his hands; and both looked to him for 
direction. The pope employed them to raise money, to preach 
crusades, and to impose excommunications and interdicts. 
The Franciscans and Dominicans formed, in fact, the agents 
of the Papacy. 

165. Power of the Papacy 

The name "pope"^ seems at first to have been apphed to all 
priests as a title of respect and affection. The Greek Church 
still continues this use of the word. In the West -j.j^g pope's 
it gradually came to be reserved to the bishop of exalted 
Rome as his official title. The pope was addressed p°^^*^°^ 
in speaking as "Your Holiness." His exalted position was 
further indicated by the tiara, or headdress with triple crowns, 
worn by him in processions. ^ He went to solemn ceremonies 
sitting in a chair supported on the shoulders of his guard. He 
gave audience from an elevated throne, and all who approached 
him kissed his feet in reverence. As "Christ's Vicar" he 
claimed to be the representative on earth of the Almighty. 

The pope was the supreme lawgiver of the Church. His 

decrees might not be set aside by any other person. He made 

new laws in the form of "bulls" ^ and by his "dis- 

,, 1 T . . , • 1 , , "^^6 pope as 

pensations could m particular cases set aside old the head of 

laws, such as those forbidding cousins to marry western 

1 1-1 r 1 . rr./ Christendom 

or monks to obtain release from their vows. The 

pope was also the supreme judge of the Church, for all appeals 
from the lower ecclesiastical courts came before him for decision. 
Finally, the pope was the supreme administrator of the Church. 
He confirmed the election of bishops, deposed them, when neces- 
sary, or transferred them from one diocese to another. No 

1 Latin papa, "father." 2 See the illustration, page 348. 

3 So called from the lead seal (Latin bulla) attached to papal docimients. 



454 The Papacy and the Empire 

archbishop might perform the functions of his office until he 
had received the pallium from the pope's hands. The pope 
also exercised control over the monastic orders and called 
general councils of the Church. 

The authority of the pope was commonly exercised by the 
"legates," ^ whom he sent out as his representatives at the vari- 
The papal ous European courts. These officers kept the pope 
legates jj^ close touch with the condition of the Church in 

every part of western Europe. A similar function is performed 
in modern times by the papal ambassadors known as "nuncios." 

For assistance in government the pope made use of the cardi- 
nals,2 who formed a board, or "college." At first they were 
The chosen only from the clergy of Rome and the 

cardinals vicinity, but in course of time the pope opened the 

cardinalate to prominent churchmen in all countries. The 
number of cardinals is now fixed at seventy, but the college is 
never full, and there are always ten or more "vacant hats," as 
the saying goes. The cardinals, in the eleventh century, 
received the right of choosing a new pope. A cardinal ranks 
above all other church officers. His dignity is indicated by 
the red hat and scarlet robe which he wears and by the title of 
"Eminence" applied to him. 

To support the business of the Papacy and to maintain the 
splendor of the papal court required a large annual income. 
Income of This came partly from the States of the Church 
the Papacy j^ Italy, partly from the gifts of the faithful, and 
partly from the payments made by abbots, bishops, and arch- 
bishops when the pope confirmed their election to office. Still 
another source of revenue consisted of "Peter's Pence," a tax 
of a penny on each hearth. It was collected every year in 
England and in some Continental countries until the Reforma- 
tion. The modern "Peter's Pence" is a voluntary contribution 
made by Roman Cathohcs in all countries. 

The Eternal City, from which in ancient times the known 
world had been ruled, formed in the Middle Ages the capital 

1 Latin legatus, "deputy." 

* Latin cardinalis, "principal." 



Popes and Emperors 455 

of the Papacy. Hither every year came tens of thousands of 
pilgrims to worship at the shrine of the Prince The capital 
of the Apostles. Few traces now remain of the of the Papacy 
medieval city. Old St. Peter's Church, where Charlemagne 
was crowned emperor/ gave way in the sixteenth century to 
the world-f amyous structure that now occupies its site.^ The 
Lateran Palace, which for more than a thousand years served 
as the residence of the popes, has also disappeared, its place 
being taken by a new and smaller building. The popes now 
live in the splendid palace of the Vatican, adjoining St. 
Peter's. 

The powers exercised by the popes during the later Middle 
Ages were not secured without a struggle. As a matter of fact 
the concentration of authority in papal hands jj^^ papacy 
was a gradual development covering several hun- and the 
dred years. The pope reached his exalted position °^P""® 
only after a long contest with the Holy Roman Emperor. This 
contest forms one of the most noteworthy episodes in medieval 
history. 

166. Popes and Emperors, 962-1122 A.D. 

One might suppose that there could be no interference between 

pope and emperor, since they seemed to have separate spheres 

of action. It was said that God had made the „ , ^. 

Relations 
pope, as the successor of St. Peter, supreme in between pope 

spiritual matters and the emperor, as heir of the f"^, emperor 
_^ . , "^ theory 

Roman Caesars, supreme in temporal matters. 
The former ruled men's souls, the latter, men's bodies. The 
two sovereigns thus divided on equal terms the government of 
the world. 

The difficulty with this theory was that it did not work. No 
one could decide in advance where the authority Their rela- 
of the pope ended and where that of the emperor tions in 
began. When the pope claimed certain powers ^^^^ 
which were also claimed by the emperor, a conflict between 
the two rulers became inevitable. 

1 See page 311. 2 gee the plate facing page 591. 



456 



The Papacy and the Empire 



In 962 A.D. Otto the Great, as we have learned/ restored 
imperial rule in the West, thus founding what in later centuries 
Otto the came to be known as the Holy Roman Empire, 

Great and Otto as emperor possessed the rights of making the 
the Papacy ^.^^ ^£ Rome the imperial capital, of approving 
the election of the pope, and, in general, of exerting much 
,,.^^P^. influence in papal 

i g • ^ affairs. All these 

rights had been exer- 
cised by Charlemagne. 
But Otto did what 
Charlemagne had 
never done when he 
deposed a pope who 
proved disobedient to 
his wishes and on his 
own authority ap- 
pointed a successor. 
At the same time 
Otto exacted from the 
people of Rome an 
oath that they would 
never recognize any 
pope to whose elec- 
tion the emperor had 
not consented. 

The emperors who 
followed Otto repeat- 
edly interfered in elections to the Papacy. One strong ruler. 
The Papacy Henry III (1039-1056 A.D.), has been called the 
"pope-maker." Early in his reign he set aside 
three rival claimants to the Papacy, creating a 
German bishop pope, and on three subsequent occasions filled 
the papal throne by fresh appointments. It was clear that if 
this situation continued much longer the Papacy would become 
simply an imperial ofi&ce; it would be merged in the Empire. 

1 See page 317. 




The Spiritual and the Temporal Power 

A tenth-century mosaic in the church of St. John, Rome. 
It represents Christ giving to St. Peter the keys of heaven, 
and to Constantine the banner symbolic of earthly 
dominion. 



and Otto's 
successors 



Popes and Emperors 457 

The death of Henry III, which left the Empire in weak hands, 
gave the Papacy a chance to escape the control of the secular 
power. In 1059 a.d. a church council held at the p^p^ g^^^, 
Lateran Palace decreed that henceforth the right tion by the 
of choosing the supreme pontiff should belong 
exclusively to the cardinals, who represented the clergy of 
Rome. This arrangement has tended to prevent any inter- 
ference with the election of popes, either by the Roman people 
or by foreign sovereigns. 

Now that the Papacy had become independent, it began to 
deal with a grave problem which affected the Church at large. 
According to ecclesiastical rule bishops ought to Feudalizing 
be chosen by the clergy of their diocese and abbots °^ ^^ Church 
by their monks. With the growth of feudalism, however, 
many of these high dignitaries had become vassals, holding 
their lands as fiefs of princes, kings, and emperors, and 
owing the usual feudal dues. Their lords expected them to 
perform the ceremony of homage,^ before "investing" them 
with the lands attached to the bishopric or monastery. One 
can readily see that in practice the lords really chose the bishops 
and abbots, since they could always refuse to "invest" those 
who were displeasing to them. 

To the reformers in the Church lay investiture appeared 

intolerable. How could the Church keep itself unspotted from 

the world when its highest officers were chosen by , . 

1 1 11 1 r . / L^y investi- 

laymen and were compelled to perform unpriestly ture from 

duties? In the act of investiture the reformers *^® Church 

1 1 • r • o , 1 r 1 Standpoint 

also saw the sm of simony ^ — the sale of sacred 
powers — because there was such a temptation before the 
candidate for a bishopric or abbacy to buy the position with 
promises or with money. 

The lords, on the other hand, believed that as long as bishops 
and abbots held vast estates on feudal tenure they should con- 
tinue to perform the obligations of vassalage. To forbid lay 

1 See page 418. 

2 A name derived from Simon Magus, who offered money to the Apostle Peter 
for the power to confer the Holy Spirit. See Acts, viii, 18-20. 



458 The Papacy and the Empire 

investiture was to deprive the lords of all control over 

Lay investi- Church dignitaries. The real difficulty of the 

ture as situation existed, of course, in the fact that the 

viewed by 

the secular bishops and abbots were both spiritual officers 

authority ^^(]^ temporal rulers, were servants of both the 

Church and the State. They found it very difficult to serve 

two masters. 

In 1073 A.D. there came to the throne of St. Peter one of the 

most remarkable of the popes. This was Hildebrand, who, 

^ ^ , on becoming pope, took the name of Gregory VII. 
Pontificate of ^^ , ° \.^ \ . , , • 1 1 • 1 • 

Gregory VII, Of obscure Italian birth, he received his education 

1073-1085 jj^ g^ Benedictine monastery at Rome and rose 
rapidly to a position of great influence in papal 
affairs. He is described as a small man, ungainly in appearance 
and with a weak voice, but energetic, forceful, and of imperious 
will. 

Gregory devoted all his talents to the advancement of the 
Papacy. A contemporary document,'^ which may have been 
Gregory's of Gregory's own composition and at any rate 
^^^ expresses his ideas, contains the following state- 

ments: ''The Roman pontiff alone is properly called universal. 
He alone may depose bishops and restore them to office. He is 
the only person whose feet are kissed by all princes. He may 
depose emperors. He may be judged by no one. He may 
absolve from their allegiance the subjects of the wicked. The 
Roman Church never has erred, and never can err, as the Scrip- 
tures testify." Gregory did not originate these doctrines, but 
he was the first pope who ventured to make a practical applica- 
tion of them. 

Two years after Gregory became pope he issued a decree 
against lay investiture. It declared that no emperor, king, duke, 
marquis, count, or any other lay person should 
against lay presume to grant investiture, under pain of excom- 
1075^A*D^' niunication. This decree was a general one, 
applying to all states of western Europe, but 
circumstances were such that it mainly affected Germany. 

1 The so-called Dictatus papa. 



Popes and Emperors 



459 



Gregory VII 



Henry IV, the ruler of Germany at this time, did not refuse 
the papal challenge. He wrote a famous letter to Gregory, 
calling him ''no pope but false monk," telling him Henry IV 
Christ had never called him to the priesthood, and 
and bidding him "come down," "come down" 
from St. Peter's throne. Gregory, in reply, deposed Henry as 
emperor, excommunicated him, and freed^ his subjects from 
their allegiance. 

This severe sentence made a profound impression in Ger- 
many. Henry's Canossa, 
adherents fell 1077 A.D. 
away, and it seemed probable 
that the German nobles would 
elect another ruler in his 
stead. Henry then decided 
on abject submission. He 
hastened across the Alps and 
found the pope at the castle 
of Canossa, on the northern 
slopes of the Apennines. It 
was January, and the snow 
lay deep on the ground. For 
three days the emperor stood 
shivering outside the castle 
gate, barefoot and clad in a 
coarse w^oolen shirt, the garb 
of a penitent. At last, upon 
the entreaties of the Countess 
Matilda of Tuscany, Gregory 
admitted Henry and granted absolution. It w^as a strange 
and moving spectacle, one which well expressed the tremen- 
dous power which the Church in the Middle Ages exercised 
over the minds of men. 

The dramatic scene at Canossa did not end the investiture 
conflict. It dragged on for half a century, being concordat of 
continued after Gregory's death by the popes who Worms, 1122 
succeeded him. At last in 1122 a.d. the opposing 




Henry IV, Countess Matilda, 
AND Gregory VII 

From a manuscript of the twelfth century, 
now in the Vatican Library at Rome. 



460 The Papacy and the Empire 

parties agreed to what is known as the Concordat of Worms, 
from the old German city where it was signed. 

The concordat drew a distinction between spiritual and lay 
investiture. The emperor renounced investiture by the ring 
Terms of the and crosier — the emblems of spiritual authority 
concordat — ^^^^ permitted bishops and abbots to be elected 
by the clergy and confirmed in office by the pope. On the other 
hand the pope recognized the emperor's right to be present at 
all elections and to invest bishops and abbots by the scepter 
for whatever lands they held within his domains. This reason- 
able compromise worked well for a time. But it was a truce, 
not a peace. It did not settle the more fundamental issue, 
whether the Papacy or the Holy Roman Empire should be 
supreme. 

167. Popes and Emperors, 1122-1273 A,D. 

Thirty years after the signing of the Concordat of Worms the 

emperor Frederick I, called Barbarossa from his red beard, 

_ , . , , succeeded to the throne. Frederick, the second 

Frederick I, 

emperor, of the Hohenstaufen dynasty,^ was capable, 

A^T?~^^^^ imaginative, and ambitious. He took Charle- 
magne and Otto the Great as his models and 
aspired like them to rule Christian Europe and the Church. 
His reign is the story of many attempts, ending at length 
in failure, to unite all Italy into a single state under German 
sway. 

Frederick's Italian policy brought him at once into conflict 
with two powerful enemies. The popes, who feared that his 
Frederick success would imperil the independence of the 
and the Papacy, opposed him at every step. The great 

apacy cities of northern Italy, which were also threatened 

by Frederick's soaring schemes, united in the Lombard League 
to defend their freedom. The popes gave the league their sup- 
port, and in 11 76 a.d. Frederick was badly beaten at the battle 
of Legnano. The haughty emperor confessed himself conquered, 

1 The name of this German family comes from that of their castle in south- 
western Swabia. 



Popes and Emperors 461 

and sought reconciliation with the pope, Alexander III. In 

the presence of a vast throng assembled before St. Mark's 

Cathedral in Venice, Frederick knelt before the pope and 

humbly kissed his feet. Just a century had passed since the 

humiliation of Henry IV at Canossa. 

The Papacy reached the height of its power under Innocent 

III. The eighteen years of his pontificate were one long 

effort, for the most part successful, to make the ^ .^ 

\ , . ^ Pontificate of 

pope the arbiter of Europe. Innocent announced innocent ill, 

the claims of the Papacy in the most uncompro- a'''??"^^^^ 

mising manner. ''As the moon," he declared, 

''receives its light from the sun, and is inferior to the sun, so 

do kings receive all their glory and dignity from the Holy See." 

This meant, according to Innocent, that the pope has the right 

to interfere in all secular matters and in the quarrels of rulers. 

"God," he continued, "has set the Prince of the Apostles over 

kings and kingdoms, with a mission to tear up, plant, destroy, 

scatter, and rebuild." 

That Innocent's claims were not idle boasts is shown by 
what he accomplished. When Philip Augustus, king of France, 
divorced his wife and made another marriage, innocent and 
Innocent declared the divorce void and ordered King Philip 
him to take back his discarded queen. Philip 
refused, and Innocent, through his legate, put France under an 
interdict. From that hour all religious rites ceased. The 
church doors were barred; the church bells were silent, the 
sick died unshriven, the dead lay unburied. Philip, deserted 
by his retainers, was compelled to submit. 

On another occasion Innocent ordered John, the Enghsh 
king, to accept as archbishop of Canterbury a man of his own 
choosing. When John declared that he would innocent and 
never allow the pope's appointee to set foot on King John of 
EngHsh soil, Innocent replied by excommunicat- ^^^ 
ing him and laying his kingdom under an interdict. John 
also had to yield and went so far as to surrender England 
and Ireland to the pope, receiving them back again as fiefs, 
for which he promised to pay a yearly rent. This tribute 



462 The Papacy and the Empire 

money was actually paid, though irregularly, for about a 

century and a half. 

Innocent further exhibited his power by elevating to the 

imperial throne Frederick II, grandson of Frederick Barbarossa. 

« , . , XX The young man, after Innocent's death, proved 
Frederick II, , , . , , ' J^ 

emperor, to be a most determmed opponent of the Papacy. 

1212-1250 jjg passed much of his long reign in Italy, warring 
vainly against the popes and the Lombard cities. 

Frederick died in 1250 a.d., and with him the Holy Roman 

Empire really ceased to exist. ^ None of the succeeding 

holders of the imperial title exercised any authority outside 

of Germany. 

The death of Frederick II's son in 1254 a.d. ended the Hohen- 

staufen dynasty. There now ensued what is called the Inter- 
regnum, a period of nineteen years, during which 

regnum, Germany was without a ruler. At length the 

1254-1273 pope sent word to the German electors that if 
A.D. 

they did not choose an emperor, he would himself 

do so. The electors then chose Rudolf of Hapsburg ^ (1273 
A.D.). Rudolf gained papal support by resigning all claims on 
Italy, but recompensed himself through the conquest of Austria.^ 
Ever since this time the Hapsburg dynasty has filled the Aus- 
trian throne. 

The conflict between popes and emperors was now ended. 
Its results were momentous. Germany, so long neglected by 
Outcome of its rightful rulers, who pursued the will-o'-the- 
the conflict ^jgp [^ Italy, broke up into a mass of duchies, 
counties, archbishoprics, and free cities. The map of the 
country at this time shows how numerous were these small 
feudal states. They did not combine into a strong govern- 
ment till the nineteenth century.'* Italy likewise remained dis- 
united and lacked even a common monarch. The real victor 

1 It survived in name until 1806 a.d., when the Austrian ruler, Francis II, laid 
down the imperial crown and the venerable title of "Holy Roman Emperor." 

2 Hapsburg was the name of a castle in northern Switzerland. 

3 See page 522. 

4 The modem German Empire dates from 1871 a.d. 




GERMANY AND 

ITALY 

Poring the Interregrnum 
1254-1273 A.B. 



6° Lon gitude East 10° from Greenwich 14 



Significance of the Medieval Church 463 

was the Papacy, which had crushed the Empire and had pre- 
vented the union of Italy and Germany. 

168. Significance of the Medieval Church 

Medieval society, we have now learned, owed much to the 
Church, both as a teacher of religion and morals and as an 
agency of government. It remains to ask what The Church 
was the attitude of the Church toward the great ^^ warfare 
social problems of the Middle Ages. In regard to warfare, the 
prevalence of which formed one of the worst evils of the time, 
the Church, in general, cast its influence on the side of peace. 
It deserves credit for establishing the Peace and the Truce of 
God and for many efforts to heal strife between princes and 
nobles. Yet, as will be shown, the Church did not carry the 
advocacy of peace so far as to condemn warfare against heretics 
and infidels. Christians believed that it was a religious duty 
to exterminate these enemies of God. 

The Church was distinguished for charitable work. The 
clergy received large sums for distribution to the needy. From 
the doors of the monasteries, the poor, the sick, The Church 
and the infirm of every sort were never turned *^^ charity 
away. Medieval charity, however, was very often injudicious. 
The problem of removing the causes of poverty seems never to 
have been raised; and the indiscriminate giving multiphed, 
rather than reduced, the number of beggars. 

Neither slavery nor serfdom, into which slavery gradually 
passed,^ was ever pronounced unlawful by pope or Church 
council. The Church condemned slavery only jj^^ church 
when it was the servitude of a Christian in bondage and slavery ^ 
to a Jew or an infidel. Abbots, bishops, and popes *^ ^^ °°^ 
possessed slaves and serfs. The serfs of some wealthy monas- 
teries were counted by thousands. The Church, however, 
encouraged the freeing of bondmen as a meritorious act and 
always preached the duty of kindness and forbearance toward 
them. 

The Church also helped to promote the cause of human 

^ See pages 436-437. 



464 The Papacy and the Empire 

freedom oy insisting on the natural equality of all men in the 
sight of God. "The Creator," wrote one of the popes, "dis- 
tributes his gifts without regard to social classes. In his eyes 
Democracy there are neither nobles nor serfs." It was not 
of the necessary to be of noble birth to become a bishop, 

a cardinal, or a pope. Even serfs succeeded to 
the chair of St. Peter. Naturally enough, the Church attracted 
the keenest minds of the age, a fact which largely explains 
the influence exerted by the clergy. 

The influence of the clergy in medieval Europe w^as also due 
to the fact that they were almost the only persons of education. 
The clergy as ^^^^ except churchmen were able to read or write, 
the only edu- So generally was this the case that an offender 
could prove himself a clergyman, thus securing 
"benefit of clergy," ^ if he showed his ability to read a single 
line. It is interesting, also, to note that the word "clerk," 
which comes from the Latin dericus, was originally limited to 
churchmen, since they alone could keep accounts, write letters, 
and perform other secretarial duties. 

It is clear that priests and monks had much importance 
quite aside from their religious duties. They controlled the 
Importance schools, wrote the books, framed the laws, and, 
of the clergy jj^ general, acted as leaders and m.olders of public 
opinion. A most conspicuous instance of the authority wielded 
by them is seen in the crusades. These holy wars of Christen- 
dom against Islam must now be considered. 

Studies 

I. Explain the following tenns: abbot; prior; archbishop; parish; diocese; 
regular clergy; secular clergy; friar; excommunication; simony; interdict; sac- 
rament; "benefit of clergy"; right of "sanctuary"; crosier; miter; tiara; papal 
indulgence; bull; dispensation; tithes; and "Peter's Pence." 2. Mention some 
respects in which the Roman Church in the Middle Ages differed from any religious 
society of the present day. 3. "Medieval Europe was a camp with a church in the 
background." Comment on this statement. 4. Explain the statement that "the 
Church, throughout the Middle Ages, was a government as well as an ecclesiastical 
organization." 5. Distinguish between the faith of the Church, the organization 
of the Church, and the Church as a force in history. 6. How did the belief in 
Purgatory strengthen the hold of the Church upon men's minds? 7. Name several 

1 See page 444. 



Studies 465 



historic characters who have been made saints. 8. Why has the Roman Church 
always refused to sanction divorce? 9. Compare the social effects of excommunica- 
tion with those of a modern "boycott." 10. What reasons have led the Church 
to insist upon celibacy of the clergy? 1 1 . Name four famous monks and four famous 
monasteries. 12. Could monks enter the secular clergy and thus become parish 
priests and bishops? 13. Mention two famous popes who had been monks. 
14. What justiiication was found in the New Testament {Matthew, x 8-10) for the 
organization of the orders of friars? 15. How did the Franciscans and Dominicans 
supplement each other's work? 16. "The monks and the friars were the militia 
of the Church." Comment on this statement. 17. Who is the present Pope? 
When and by whom was he elected? In what city does he reside? What is his 
residence called? 18. Why has the medieval Papacy been called the "ghost" of 
the Roman Empire? 19. In what sense is it true that the Holy Roman Empire 
was "neither holy nor Roman, nor an empire"? 



CHAPTER XX 

THE OCCIDENT AGAINST THE ORIENT; THE 
CRUSADES, 1095-1291 A.D.^ 

169. Causes of the Crusades 

The series of military expeditions, undertaken by the Chris- 
tians of Europe for the purpose of recovering the Holy Land 
Place of the from the Moslems, have received the name of cru- 
crusades in sades. In their widest aspect the crusades may 
^^ °^^ be regarded as a renewal of the age-long contest 

between East and West, in which the struggle of Greeks and 
Persians and of Romans and Carthaginians formed the earlier 
episodes. The contest assumed a new character when Europe 
had become Christian and Asia Mohammedan. It w^as not 
only two contrasting types of civilization but also two rival 
world rehgions which in the eighth century faced each other 
under the walls of Constantinople and on the battlefield of 
Tours. Now, during the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, they 
were to meet again. 

Seven or eight chief crusades are usually enumerated. To 
number them, however, obscures the fact that for nearly two 
Number of hundred years Europe and Asia were engaged in 
the crusades almost constant warfare. Throughout this period 
there was a continuous movement of crusaders to and from the 
Moslem possessions in Asia Minor, Syria, and Egypt. 

The crusades were first and foremost a spiritual enterprise. 
They sprang from the pilgrimages which Christians had long 
Pilgrimages ^^^^ accustomed to make to the scenes of Christ's 
to the life on earth. Men considered it a wonderful 

° ^ ^ privilege to see the cave in which He was born, 
to kiss the spot where He died, and to kneel in prayer at His 

1 Webster, Readings in Medieval and Modern History, chapter xii, "Richard the 
Lion-hearted and the Third Crusade"; chapter xiii, "The Fourth Crusade and the 
Capture of Constantinople." 

466 



Causes of the Crusades 



467 



tomb. The eleventh century saw an increased zeal for pil- 
grimages, and from this time travelers to the Holy Land were 
very numerous. For greater security they often joined them- 
selves in companies and marched under arms. It needed 
little to transform such pilgrims into crusaders. 

The Arab conquest 
of the Holy Land had 
not interrupted the 
stream of Abuse of 
pilgrims, pilgrims by 

r ,1 the Turks 

for the 

early caliphs were 
more tolerant of un- 
believers than Chris- 
tian emperors of here- 
tics. But after the 
coming of the Seljuk 
Turks into the East, 
pilgrimages became 
more difficult and 
dangerous. The Turks 
were a ruder people 
than the Arabs whom 
they displaced, and 




Combat between Crusaders and Moslems 

A picture in an eleventh-century window, formerly 
in the church of St. Denis, near Paris. 



not inclined to treat 



in their fanatic zeal for Islam were 
the Christians with consideration. 
Many tales floated back to Europe of the outrages committed 
on the pilgrims and on the sacred shrines venerated by all 
Christendom. Such stories, which lost nothing in the telling, 
aroused a storm of indignation throughout Europe and awak- 
ened the desire to rescue the Holy Land from the grasp of the 
"infidel." 

But the crusades were not simply an expression of the simple 
faith of the Middle Ages. Something more than religious 
enthusiasm sent an unending procession of crusad- ^j^^ crusades 
ers along the highways of Europe and over the and the 
trackless wastes of Asia Minor to Jerusalem. The 
crusades, in fact, appealed strongly to the warlike instincts of 



upper classes 



468 The Crusades 

the feudal nobles. They saw in an expedition against the East 
an unequaled opportunity for acquiring fame, riches, lands, and 
power. The Normans were especially stirred by the prospect 
of adventure and plunder which the crusading movement 
opened up. By the end of the eleventh century they had 
established themselves in southern Italy and Sicily, from which 
they now looked across the Mediterranean for further lands to 
conquer.^ Norman knights formed a very large element in 
several of the crusaders' armies. 

The crusades also attracted the lower classes. So great 
was the misery of the common people in medieval Europe that 
The lower ^^^ them it seemed not a hardship, but rather a 
classes and relief, to leave their homes in order to better them- 

6 cnisa es ggjygg abroad. Famine and pestilence, poverty 
and oppression, drove them to emigrate hopefully to the golden 
East. 

The Church, in order to foster the crusades, promised both 
religious and secular benefits to those who took part in them. 
Privileges of A warrior of the Cross was to enjoy forgiveness of 
crusaders ^\\ j^jg p^gt sins. If he died fighting for the faith, 
he was assured of an immediate entrance to the joys of Paradise. 
The Church also freed him from paying interest on his debts 
and threatened with excommunication anyone who molested 
his wife, his children, or his property. 

170. First Crusade, 1095-1099 A.D. 

The signal for the First Crusade was given by the conquests 

of the Seljuk Turks.^ These barbarians, at first the mercenaries 

and then the masters of the Abbasid caliphs, in- 

Occasion of fused fresh energy into Islam. They began a new 
the First ^^^, ^^ . , \ . , 

Crusade era of Mohammedan expansion by wmning almost 

the whole of Asia Minor from the Roman Empire 

in the East. One of their leaders estabhshed himself at Nicaea, 

the scene of the first Church Council,^ and founded the 

sultanate of Rum (Rome). 

1 See page 412. 2 See pages 333, 380. ^ See page 235. 



First Crusade 469 

The presence of the Turks so close to Constantinople was a 
standing menace to all Europe. The able emperor, Alexius I, 
on succeeding to the throne toward the close of ^ppe^i of 
the eleventh century, took steps to expel the emperor to 
invaders. He could not draw on the hardy tribes ^°^® 
of Asia Minor for the soldiers he needed, but with reinforce- 
ments from the West he hoped to recover the lost provinces of 
the empire. Accordingly, in 1095 a.d., Alexius sent an embassy 
to Pope Urban II, the successor of Gregory VII, requesting aid. 
The fact that the emperor appealed to the pope, rather than to 
any king, shows what a high place the Papacy then held in 
the affairs of Europe. 

To the appeal of Alexius, Urban lent a willing ear. He sum- 
moned a great council of clergy and nobles to meet at Cler- 
mont in France. Here, in an address which, council of 
measured by its results, was the most momentous Clermont, 
recorded in history. Pope Urban preached the 
First Crusade. He said little about the dangers which threat- 
ened the Roman Empire in the East from the Turks, but dwelt 
chiefly on the wretched condition of the Holy Land, with its 
churches polluted by unbelievers and its Christian inhabitants 
tortured and enslaved. Then, turning to the proud knights who 
stood by. Urban called upon them to abandon their wicked 
practice of private warfare and take up arms, instead, against 
the infidel. "Christ Himself," he cried, ''will be your leader, 
when, like the Israehtes of old, you fight for Jerusalem. . . . 
Start upon the way to the Holy Sepulcher; wrench the land 
from the accursed race, and subdue it yourselves. Thus shall 
you spoil your foes of their wealth and return home victorious, 
or, purpled with your own blood, receive an everlasting 
reward." 

Urban's trumpet call to action met an instant response. 
From the assembled host there went up, as it were, a single 
shout: ''God wills it! God wills it!" "It is, in «« God wills 
truth. His will," answered Urban, "and let these i*'" 
words be your war cry when you unsheath your swords against 
the enemy." Then man after man pressed forward to receive 



470 The Crusades 

the badge of a crusader, a cross of red cloth.^ It was to be worn 
on the breast, when the crusader went forth, and on the back, 
when he returned. 

The months which followed the Council of Clermont were 
marked by an epidemic of religious excitement in western 
Prelude to Europe. Popular preachers everywhere took up 
the First the cry ''God w^ills it!" and urged their hearers 

to start for Jerusalem. A monk named Peter the 
Hermit aroused large parts of France with his passionate elo- 
quence, as he rode from town to town, carrying a huge cross 
before him and preaching to vast crowds. Without waiting 
for the main body of nobles, which w^as to assemble at Con- 
stantinople in the summer of 1096 a.d., a horde of poor men, 
women, and children set out, unorganized and almost unarmed, 
on the road to the Holy Land. One' of these crusading bands, 
led by Peter the Hermit, managed to reach Constantinople, 
after suffering terrible hardships. The emperor Alexius sent 
his ragged allies as quickly as possible to Asia Minor, where 
most of them were slaughtered by the Turks. 

Meanwhile real armies were gathering in the West. Recruits 
came in greater numbers from France than from any other 
The main country, a circumstance which resulted in the 
crusade crusaders being generally called "Franks" by their 

Moslem foes. They had no single commander, but each con- 
tingent set out for Constantinople by its own route and at its 
own time.^ 

The crusaders included among their leaders some of the most 
distinguished representatives of European knighthood. Count 
Leaders- of Raymond of Toulouse headed a band of volun- 
the crusade teers from Provence in southern France. Godfrey 
of Bouillon and his brother Baldwin commanded a force of 
French and Germans from the Rhinelands. Normandy sent 
Robert, William the Conqueror's eldest son. The Normans 
from Italy and Sicily were led by Bohemond, a son of Robert 
Guiscard,^ and his nephew Tancred. 

1 Hence the name "crusades," from Latin crux, Old French crois, a "cross." 

2 For the routes followed by the crusaders see the map between pages 478-479. 

3 See page 412. 



First Crusade 



471 



Though the crusaders probably did not number more than 
fifty thousand fighting men, the disunion which prevailed 
among the Turks favored the success of their 
enterprise. With some assistance from the eastern 
emperor they captured Nicsea, overran Asia 
Minor, and at length reached Antioch, the key to 
northern Syria. The city fell after a siege of seven months, but 



The 

crusaders in 
Asia Minor 
and Syria 





;iQ|ri|]l*'R 





"Mosque of Omar," Jerusalem 

More correctly called the Dome of the Rock. It was erected in 691 a.d., but many 
restorations have taken place since that date. The walls enclosing the entire structure 
were built in the ninth century, and the dome is attributed to Saladin (1189 a.d.). 
This building, with its brilliant tiles covering the walls and its beautiful stained glass, 
is a fine example of Mohammedan architecture. 



the crusaders were scarcely within the walls before they found 
themselves besieged by a large Turkish army. The crusaders 
were now in a desperate plight: famine wasted their ranks; 
many soldiers deserted; and Alexius disappointed all hope of 
rescue. But the news of the discovery in an Antioch church of 
the Holy Lance which had pierced the Savior's side restored 
their drooping spirits. The whole army issued forth from 
the city, bearing the rehc as a standard, and drove the 
Turks in headlong flight. This victory opened the road to 
Jerusalem. 

Reduced now to perhaps one-fourth of their original numbers, 



472 The Crusades 

the crusaders advanced slowly to the city which formed the 
Capture of S^^^ ^^ ^^^ their efforts. Before attacking it they 
Jerusalem, marched barefoot in religious procession around 
1099 A.D. ^-^^ ^^^j^g^ ^^,.^j^ p^^^^ ^j^g Hermit at their head. 

Then came the grand assault. Godfrey of Bouillon and Tancred 
were among the first to mount the ramparts. Once inside the 
city, the crusaders massacred their enemies without mercy. 
Afterwards, we are told, they went ''rejoicing, nay for excess 
of joy weeping, to the tomb of our Savior to adore and give 
thanks." 

171. Crusaders' States in Syria 

After the capture of Jerusalem the crusaders met to elect 
a king. Their choice fell upon Godfrey of Bouillon. He refused 
Latin ^^ wear a crown of gold in the city where Christ 

Kingdom of had wom a crown of thorns and accepted, instead, 
Jerusalem ^^^ modest title of 'Trotector of the Holy Sepul- 
cher." ^ Godfrey died the next year and his brother Baldwin, 
who succeeded him, being less scrupulous, was crowned king 
at Bethlehem. The new kingdom contained nearly a score of 
fiefs, whose lords made war, administered justice, and coined 
money, like independent rulers. The main features of European 
feudalism were thus transplanted to Asiatic soil. 

The winning of Jerusalem and the district about it formed 
hardly more than a preliminary stage in the conquest of Syria. 
Other Much fighting was still necessary before the cru- 

crusaders' saders could establish themselves firmly in the 
^ * ^^ country. Instead of founding one strong power in 

Syria, they split up their possessions into the three principalities 
of Tripoli, Antioch, and Edessa. These small states owed 
allegiance to the Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem. 

The ability of the crusaders' states to maintain themselves 
for many years in Syria was largely due to the foundation of 

1 The emperor Constantine caused a stately church to be erected on the sup- 
posed site of Christ's tomb. This church of the Holy Sepulcher was practically 
destroyed by the Moslems, early in the eleventh century. The crusaders restored 
and enlarged the structure, which still stands. 



Crusaders' States in Syria 



473 



two military-religious orders. The members were both monks 

and knights; that is, to the monastic vows of chas- Miiitary- 

tity, poverty, and obedience they added a fourth religious 

vow, which bound them to protect pilgrims and 

fight the infidels. Such a combination of religion and warfare 

made a strong appeal to the medieval 

mind. 

The Hospitalers, the first of these 
orders, grew out of a brotherhood for 
the care of sick pilgrims in a Hospitalers 
hospital at Jerusalem. Many and Templars 
knights joined the organization, which 
soon proved to be very useful in defend- 
ing the Holy Land. Even more impor- 
tant were the Templars, so called because 
their headquarters in Jerusalem lay near 
the site of Solomon's Temple. Both 
orders built many castles in Syria, the 
remains of which still impress the 
beholder. They established numerous 
branches in Europe and, by presents 
and legacies, acquired vast wealth. The 
Templars were disbanded in the four- 
teenth century, but the Hospitalers 
continued to fight valiantly against the 
Turks long after the close of the cru- 
sading movement.^ 

The depleted ranks of the crusaders 
were constantly filled by fresh christian and 
bands of pilgrim knights who infidel in the 
visited Palestine to pray at ^^ ^ 
the Holy Sepulcher and cross swords with the infidel. In 
spite of constant border warfare much trade and friendly 
intercourse prevailed between Christians and Moslems. They 
learned to respect one another both as foes and neighbors. 

1 The order of Hospitalers, now known as the ''Knights of Malta," still survives 
in several European countries. 




Effigy of a Knight 
Templar 

Temple Church, London 

Shows the kind of armor 
worn between 1190 and 
1225 A.D. 



474 The Crusades 

The crusaders' states in Syria became, like Spain ^ and Sicily,^ 
a meeting-place of East and West. 

172. Second Crusade, 1147-1149 A.D., and Third 
Crusade, 1189-1192 A.D. 

The success of the Christians in the First Crusade had been 
largely due to the disunion among their enemies. But the 
Origin of the Moslems learned in time the value of united action, 
Second and in 1144 a.d. succeeded in capturing Edessa, 

^^ ® one of the principal Christian outposts in the 

East. The fall of the city, followed by the loss of the entire 
county of Edessa, aroused western Europe to the danger which 
threatened the Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem and led to another 
crusading enterprise. 

The apostle of the Second Crusade was the great abbot of 
Clairvaux, St. Bernard.^ Scenes of the wildest enthusiasm 
Preaching of marked his preaching. When the churches were 
St. Bernard ^q^ large enough to hold the crowds which flocked 
to hear him, he spoke from platforms erected in the fields. St. 
Bernard's eloquence induced two monarchs, Louis VII of France 
and Conrad III of Germany, to take the blood-red cross of a 
crusader. 

The Second Crusade, though begun under the most favorable 
auspices, had an unhappy ending. Of the great host that set 
Failxxre of ^^^ from Europe, only a few thousands escaped 
the Second annihilation in Asia Minor at the hands of the 
Crusade Turks. Louis and Conrad, with the remnants of 

their armies, made a joint attack on Damascus, but had to 
raise the siege after a few days. This closed the crusade. As a 
chronicler of the expedition remarked, "having practically 
accomplished nothing, the inglorious ones returned home." 

Not many years after the Second Crusade, the Moslem world 
found in the famous Saladin a leader for a holy war against the 

„ , ,. Christians. Saladin in character was a typical 

Saladin 

Mohammedan, very devout in prayers and fast- 
ing, fiercely hostile toward unbelievers, and full of the pride of 

1 See page 383. 2 See page 413. ^ See pages 449-450. 



The Second and Third Crusades 475 

race. To these qualities he added a kindUness and humanity 
not surpassed, if equaled, by any of his Christian foes. He 
lives in eastern history and legend as the hero who stemmed 
once for all the tide of European conquest in Asia. 

Having made himself sultan of Egypt, Saladin united the 
Moslems of Syria under his sway and then advanced against 
the Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem. The Christians 
met him in a great battle near the lake of Galilee. Jerusalem 
It ended in the rout of their army and the capture ?7„?^^J"' 
of their king. Even the Holy Cross, which they 
had carried in the midst of the fight, became the spoil of 
the conqueror. Saladin quickly reaped the fruits of victory. 
The Christian cities of Syria opened their gates to him, 
and at last Jerusalem itself surrendered after a short siege. 
Little now remained of the possessions which the crusaders 
had won in the East. 

The news of the taking of Jerusalem spread consternation 

throughout western Christendom. The cry for another crusade 

arose on all sides. Once more thousands of men ^, . , 

Third 
sewed the cross in gold, or silk, or cloth upon their Cmsade 

garments and set out for the Holy Land. When Jj|^^* 
the three greatest rulers of Europe — Philip 
Augustus,^ king of France, Richard I, king of England, and 
the German emperor, Frederick Barbarossa ^ — assumed the 
cross,. it seemed that nothing could prevent the restoration of 
Christian supremacy in Syria. 

The Germans under Frederick Barbarossa were the first to 
start. This great emperor was now nearly seventy years old, yet 
age had not lessened his crusading zeal. He took y. , , 
the overland route and after much hard fighting Frederick 
reached southern Asia Minor. Here, however, he Barbarossa, 

Jill- 11 1190 A.D. 

was drow^ned, while trymg to cross a swollen 

stream. Many of his discouraged followers at once returned 
to Germany; a few of them, however, pressed on and joined 
the other crusaders before the walls of Acre. 

» See page 513. 2 See page 460. 



476 



The Crusades 




Acre cap- 
tured by 
Philip and 
Richard, 
1191 A.D. 



mtmi,: 



The expedition of the French and Enghsh achieved Kttle. 
PhiHp and Richard, who came by 
sea, captured Acre after a hard 
siege, but their quarrels 
prevented them from fol- 
lowing up this initial suc- 
cess. Philip soon went 
home, leaving the further conduct 
of the crusade in Richard's hands. 

The English king remained for four- 
teen months longer in the Holy Land. 
His campaigns during this time gained 
for him the title of ''Lion- 
hearted," ^ by which he is 
always known. He had 
many adventures and per- 
formed knightly exploits without num- 
ber, but could not capture Jerusalem. 
Tradition declares that when, during 
a truce, some crusaders went up to 
Jerusalem, Richard refused to accom- 
RiCHAED I IN Prison pany them, saying that he would not 
From an illuminated manuscript enter as a pilgrim the city which he 

of the thirteenth century. King ^^^^^ ^^^ j.^^^^^ ^g ^ COnqUCror. He 
Richard on his return from the ^ 

Holy Land was shipwrecked off and Saladlu finally concluded a treaty 
the coast of the Adriatic. At- ^ ^^^^ ^^^^^ ^f ^^.j^j^^j^ Christians were 

tempting to travel through Austria "^ 

in disguise, he was captured by permitted to visit Jerusalem without 
the duke of Austria, whom he had paying tribute. Richard then set sail 

offended at the siege of Acre. -"^ •' " 

The king regained his Uberty only for England, and with his departure 
by paying a ransom equivalent f j-om the Holy Land the Third Crusadc 

to more than twice the annual 

revenues of England. CamC tO an end. 




Richard 
in the 
Holy Land, 
1191-1192 
A.D. 






173. Fourth Crusade and the Latin Empire of Con- 
stantinople, 1202-1261 A.D. 

The real author of the Fourth Crusade was the famous pope, 
Innocent III.^ Young, enthusiastic, and ambitious for the 

1 In French Caeur-de-Lion, 2 See page 461. 



The Fourth Crusade 477 

glory of the Papacy, he revived the plans of Urban II 
and sought once more to unite the forces of innocent m 
Christendom against Islam. No emperor or king and the 
answered his summons, but a number of knights c^gade 
(chiefly French) took the crusader's vow. 

The leaders of the crusade decided to make Egypt their 
objective point, since this country was then the center of 
the Moslem power. Accordingly, the crusaders ^j^^ ^^_ 
proceeded to Venice, for the purpose of secur- saders and 
ing transportation across the Mediterranean. The ® enetians 
Venetians agreed to furnish the necessary ships only on condition 
that the crusaders first seized Zara on the eastern coast of the 
Adriatic. Zara was a Christian city, but it was also a naval 
and commercial rival of Venice. In spite of the pope's protests 
the crusaders besieged and captured the city. Even then they 
did not proceed against the Moslems. The Venetians per- 
suaded them to turn their arms against Constantinople. The 
possession of that great capital would greatly increase Venetian 
trade and influence in the East; for the crusading nobles it 
held out endless opportunities of acquiring wealth and power. 
Thus it happened that these soldiers of the Cross, pledged to 
war with the Moslems, attacked a Christian city, which for 
centuries had formed the chief bulwark of Europe against the 
Arab and the Turk. 

The crusaders — now better styled the invaders — took 

Constantinople by storm. No "infidels" could have treated 

in worse fashion this home of ancient civilization. 

They burned down a great part of it ; they slaugh- ^^^^ ^^ ^o°~ 

•;,.,,. , , ; ^ , stantinople, 

tered the mhabitants; they wantonly destroyed 1204 A.D. 

monuments, statues, paintings, and manuscripts 

— the accumulation of a thousand years. Much of the movable 

wealth they carried away. Never, declared an eye-witness 

of the scene, had there been such plunder since the world 

began. 

The victors hastened to divide between them the lands of 

the Roman Empire in the East. Venice gained some districts 

in Greece, together with nearly all the ^gean islands. The 



478 The Crusades 

chief crusaders formed part of the remaining territory into 
the Latin Empire of Constantinople. It was 
Empire of organized in fiefs, after the feudal manner. There 
Constant!- was a prince of Achaia, a duke of Athens, a mar- 
mi^AD ~ ^^^^ ^^ Corinth, and a count of Thebes. Large 
districts, both in Europe and Asia, did not ac- 
knowledge, however, these "Latin" rulers. The new empire 
lived less than sixty years. At the end of this time the 
Greeks returned to power. 

Constantinople, after the Fourth Crusade, decKned in strength 

and could no longer cope with the barbarians menacing it. 

Two centuries later the city fell an easy victim 

Disastrous 

consequence to the Turks.^ The responsibility for the disas- 

of the Fourth ^gj. ^hich gave the Turks a foothold in Europe 
Crusade 

rests on the heads of the Venetians and the 

French nobles. Their greed and lust for power turned the 
Fourth Crusade into a political adventure. 

The so-called Children's Crusade illustrates at once the reli- 
gious enthusiasm and misdirected zeal which marked the whole 

^^ crusading movement. During the year 121 2 a.d. 

The 

Children's thousands of French children assembled in bands 

^9^9^1% and marched through the towns and villages, 

carrying banners, candles, and crosses and singing, 

''Lord God, exalt Christianity. Lord God, restore to us the 

true cross." The children could not be restrained at first, but 

finally hunger compelled them to return home. In Germany, 

during the same year, a lad named Nicholas really did succeed 

in launching a crusade. He led a mixed multitude of men and 

women, boys and girls over the Alps into Italy, where they 

expected to take ship for Palestine. But many perished of 

hardships, many were sold into slavery, and only a few ever 

saw their homes again. ''These children," Pope Innocent III 

declared, *'put us to shame; while we sleep they rush to recover 

the Holy Land." 

The crusading movement came to an end by the close of the 

thirteenth century. The emperor Frederick II ^ for a short 

1 See page 492. « gee page 462. 




'"'''^'e^-ijzZ^i^L^ ^ 


r 




Palermo 


S M^ — -^ J, j \ Bona 




1 T 


C 


. SICIL' 


Tun 




^ ^ 


^ 
^ 
%: 


MEDITERRANEAN LANDS ^ "^^ =3^ 
AFTER THE EOURTH CRUSADE ^ X 

^^ 1202-1204 A.D. 


^ 


/-'.<' 






rv 








V 








4 


^ 4. 


o 


^^\ 


Second crusade 1147 - 1149 D. = Duchy 




" ' Dom.= Dominion 

^ . . > TViirH r-fiT^irln 1190 111'' 


^ 










Scale of Miles P.=Principality 

50 100 200 300 400 500 















Longitude West 



East from, Greenwich 




^lenna 

1 o C 



.Gran / ^^ 

f Ho-^o"*- tol/^ I/KINGDOM --,x -V 

lit l\io\F HUNGARY h { ' 

^ Its } f""^ ) s^'" Xl^ 



^o\-^' 






Cbersot^ 



C K^^S E ^ 



^ ^ ^>^^ 






^^, 



Ng/aesal 



A ^'y\ Philippopoli 



r.RETE 







Results of the Crusades 479 

time recovered Jerusalem by a treaty, but in 1224 a.d. the 
Holy City became again a possession of the End of the 
Moslems. They have never since rehnquished crusades 
it. Acre, the last Christian post in Syria, fell in 1291 a.d., 
and with this event the Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem ceased 
to exist. The Hospitalers, or Knights of St. John, still kept 
possession of the important islands of Cyprus and Rhodes, 
which long served as a barrier to Moslem expansion over the 
Mediterranean. 

174. Results of the Crusades 

The crusades, judged by what they set out to accompHsh, 
must be accounted an inglorious failure. After two hundred 
years of conflict, after a vast expenditure of wealth FaUure of 
and human lives, the Holy Land remained in the crusades 
Moslem hands. It is true that the First Crusade did help, by 
the conquest of Syria, to check the advance of the Turks toward 
Constantinople. But even this benefit was more than undone 
by the weakening of the Roman Empire in the East as a result 
of the Fourth Crusade. 

Of the many reasons for the failure of the crusades, three 
require special consideration. In the first place, there was the 
inability of eastern and western Europe to coop- -wTiythe 
erate in supporting the holy wars. A united crusades 
Christendom might well have been invincible. 
But the bitter antagonism between the Greek and Roman 
churches ^ effectually prevented all unity of action. The emper- 
ors at Constantinople, after the First Crusade, rarely assisted 
the crusaders and often secretly hindered them. In the second 
place, the lack of sea-power, as seen in the earlier crusades, 
worked against their success. Instead of being able to go by 
water directly to Syria, it was necessary to follow the long, over- 
land route from France or Germany through Hungary, Bul- 
garia, the territory of the Roman Empire in the East, and the 
deserts and mountains of Asia Minor. The armies that reached 
their destination after this toilsome march were in no condition 

1 See pages 362-363. 



480 The Crusades 

for effective campaigning. In the third place, the crusaders 
were never numerous enough to colonize so large a country as 
Syria and absorb its Moslem population. They conquered 
part of Syria in the First Crusade, but could not hold it per- 
manently in the face of determined resistance. 

In spite of these and other reasons the Christians of Europe 
might have continued much longer their efforts to recover the 
Why the Holy Land, had they not lost faith in the move- 

crusades ment. But after two centuries the old crusading 

enthusiasm died out, the old ideal of the crusade 
as "the way of God" lost its spell. Men had begun to think 
less of winning future salvation by visits to distant shrines and 
to think more of their present duties to the world about them. 
They came to believe that Jerusalem could best be won as 
Christ and the Apostles had won it — ''by love, by prayers, 
and by the shedding of tears." 

The crusades could not fail to affect in many ways the life 
of western Europe. For instance, they helped to undermine 
feudalism. Thousands of barons and knights mortgaged or 
Influence of ^^^^ their lands in order to raise money for a cru- 
the crusades sading expedition. Thousands more perished in 
on eu sm gy^.-^^^ ^.nd their estates, through failure of heirs, 
reverted to the crown. Moreover, private warfare, that curse 
of the Middle Ages,^ also tended to die out with the departure 
for the Holy Land of so many turbulent feudal lords. Their 
decline in both numbers and influence, and the corresponding 
growth of the royal authority, may best be traced in the 
changes that came about in France, the original home of the 
crusading movement. 

One of the most important effects of the crusades was on 
commerce. They created a constant demand for the trans- 
The crusades portation of men and supplies, encouraged ship- 
and building, and extended the market for eastern 

commerce ^ares in Europe. The products of Damascus, 
' Mosul, Alexandria, Cairo, and other great cities were carried 
across the Mediterranean to the Italian seaports, whence they 

1 See page 423. 



Results of the Crusades 481 

found their way into all European lands. The elegance of the 
Orient, with its silks, tapestries, precious stones, perfumes, 
spices, pearls, and ivory, was so enchanting that an enthusiastic 
crusader called it '' the vestibule of Paradise." 

Finally, it must be noted how much the crusades contributed 
to intellectual and social progress. They brought the inhab- 
itants of western Europe into close relations with ^^ 

. . The crusades 

one another, with their fellow Christians of the and 

Roman Empire in the East, and with the natives "Jteiiectual 
of Asia Minor, Syria, and Egypt. The intercourse 
between Christians and Moslems was particularly stimulating, 
because the East at this time surpassed the West in civiliza- 
tion. The crusaders enjoyed the advantages which come from 
travel in strange lands and among unfamiliar peoples. They 
went out from their castles or villages to see great cities, marble 
palaces, superb dresses, and elegant manners; they returned 
with finer tastes, broader ideas, and wider sympathies. Like 
the conquests of Alexander the Great, the crusades opened up a 
new world. 

When all is said, the crusades remain one of the most remark- 
able movements in history. They exhibited the nations of 
western Europe for the first time making a united significance 
effort for a common end. The crusaders were not of the 
hired soldiers, but volunteers, who, while the 
religious fervor lasted, gladly abandoned their homes and faced 
hardship and death in pursuit of a spiritual ideal. They failed 
to accomplish their purpose, yet humanity is the richer for the 
memory of their heroism and chivalry. 

Studies 

I . On an outline map indicate Europe and the Mediterranean lands bj'^ religions, 
about 1095 A.D. 2. On an outline map indicate the routes of the First and the 
Third Crusades. 3. Locate on the map the following places: Clermont; Acre; 
Antioch; Zara; Edessa; and Damascus. 4. Identify the following dates: 1204 
A.D.; 1095 A.D.; 1096 A.D.; 1291 a.d. 5. Write a short essay describing the imag- 
inary experiences of a crusader to the Holy Land. 6. Mention some instances 
which illustrate the reUgious enthusiasm of the crusaders. 7. Compare the Moham- 
medan pilgrimage to Mecca with the pilgrimages of Christians to Jerusalem in the 
Middle Ages. 8. Compare the Christian crusade with the Mohammedan jihad, 



482 



The Crusades 



or holy war. 9. How did the expression, a "red-cross knight," arise? 10. Why 
is the Second Crusade often called "St. Bernard's Crusade"? 11. Why has the 
Third Crusade been called "the most interesting international expedition of the 
Middle Ages"? 12. Would the crusaders in 1204 a.d. have attacked Constanti- 
nople, if the schism of 1054 a.d. had not occurred? 13. "Mixture, or at least 
contact of races, is essential to progress." How do the crusades illustrate the 
truth of this statement? 14. Were the crusades the only means by which 
western Europe was brought in contact with Moslem civiUzation? 



CHAPTER XXI 
THE MONGOLS AND THE OTTOMAN TURKS TO 1453 A.D. 

175. The Mongols 

The extensive steppes in the middle and north of Asia have 
formed, for thousands of years, the abode of nomadic peoples 
belonging to the Yellow race. In prehistoric The Asiatic 
times they spread over northern Europe, but they counter- 
were gradually supplanted by white-skinned Indo- 
Europeans, until now only remnants of them exist, such as the 
Finns and Lapps. In later ages history records how the Huns, 
the Bulgarians, and the Magyars have poured into Europe, 
spreading terror and destruction in their path.^ These invaders 
were followed in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries by the 
even more terrible Mongols and Ottoman Turks. Their inroads 
might well be described as Asia's reply to the crusades, as an 
Asiatic counter-attack upon Europe. 

The Mongols, who have given their name to the entire race 

of yellow-skinned peoples, now chiefly occupy the high plateau 

bounded on the north by Siberia, on the south by „ 

Mongolia 
China, on the east by Manchuria, and on the west 

by Turkestan. 2 Although the greater part of this area consists 

of the Gobi desert, there are many oases and pastures available 

at different seasons of the year to the inhabitants. Hence the 

principal occupation of the Mongols has always been cattle 

breeding, and their horses, oxen, sheep, and camels have always 

furnished them with food and clothing. 

Like most nomads the Mongols dwell in tents, each family 

often by itself. Severe simplicity is the rule of life, for property 

consists of httle more than one's flocks and herds, clothes, and 

weapons. The modern Mongols are a peaceable, kindly folk, 

1 See pages 241, 247, 314, 316, 334. 

2 Mongolia has long been a part of the Chinese Empire, but in 191 2 A.D., when 
China became a republic, Mongolia declared its independence. 

483 



484 The Mongols and the Ottoman Turks 

who have adopted from Tibet a debased form of Buddhism, 
Mongol life but the Mongols of the thirteenth century in 
and character rehgion and morals were scarcely above the level 
of American Indians. To ruthless cruelty and passion for 




Hut- WAGON of the Mongols (Reconstruction) 

On the wagon was placed a sort of hut or pavilion made of wands bound together with 
narrow thongs. The structure was then covered with felt or cloth and provided with 
latticed windows. Hut-wagons, being verj' light, were sometimes of enormous size. 

plunder they added an efficiency in warfare which enabled them, 
within fifty years, to overrun much of Asia and the eastern part 
of Europe. 

The daily life of the Mongols was a training school for war. 
Constant practice in riding, scouting, and the use of arms made 
MiUtary every man a soldier. The words with which an 

prowess of ancient Greek historian described the savage 
the Mongols g^y^i^j^ns applied perfectly to the Mongols: 
"Having neither cities nor forts, and carrying their dwellings 
with them wherever they go; accustomed, moreover, one and 
all, to shoot from horseback; and living not by husbandry but 
on their cattle, their wagons the only houses that they possess, 
how can they fail of being irresistible? " ^ 

176. Conquests of the Mongols, 1206-1405 A.D. 

For ages the INIongols had dwelt in scattered tribes throughout 
their Asiatic wilderness, engaged in petty struggles with one 

1 Herodotus, iv, 46. 



Conquests of the Mongols 485 

another for cattle and pasture lands. It was the celebrated 
Jenghiz Khan/ chief of one of the tribes, who jenghiz 
brought them all under his authority and then led ^^^ 
them to the conquest of the world. Of him it may be said 
with truth that he had the most victorious of military careers, 
and that he constructed the most extensive empire known to 
history. If Jenghiz had possessed the ability of a statesman, 
he would have taken a place by the s-ide of Alexander the 
Great and Julius Caesar. 

Jenghiz first sent the Mongol armies, which contained many 
Turkish allies, over the Great Wall ^ and into the fertile plains 
of China. All the northern half of the country Mongol 
was quickly overrun. Then Jenghiz turned west- Empire under 
ward and invaded Turkestan and Persia. Seven 1206-1227 
centuries have not sufficed to repair the damage ^'^' 
which the Mongols wrought in this once-prosperous land. The 
great cities of Bokhara, Samarkand, Merv, and Herat,^ long 
centers of Moslem culture, were pillaged and burned, and their 
inhabitants were put to the sword. Like the Huns the Mongols 
seemed a scourge sent by God. Still further conquests enlarged 
the empire, which at the death of Jenghiz in 1227 a.d. stretched 
from the Dnieper River to the China Sea. 

The Mongol dominions in the thirteenth century were in- 
creased by the addition of Korea, southern China, and Meso- 
potamia, as well as the greater part of Asia Minor Mongol 

and Russia. Japan, indeed, repulsed the Mongol Empire 
111 11 . r * . , under the 

hordes, but at the other extremity of Asia they successors 

captured Bagdad, sacked the city, and brought oUenghiz 

the caliphate to an end.^ The Mongol realm was very loosely 

organized, however, and during the fourteenth century it fell 

apart into a number of independent states, or khanates. 

It was reserved for another renowned Oriental monarch, 

Timur the Lame,^ to restore the empire of Jenghiz Khan. His 

1 "The Very Mighty King." 

2 See page 20. * 

• For the location of these cities see the map on page 486. 

* See page 381. 

6 Commonly known as Tamerlane. 



486 The Mongols and the Ottoman Turks 




The Mongols in China and India 



487 



Timur the 
Lame, died 
1405 A.D. 



biographers traced his descent from that famous Mongol, but 
Timur was a Turk and 
an adherent 
of Islam. 
He has come 

down to us as perhaps 
the most terrible person- 
ification in history of 
the evil spirit of con- 
quest. Such distant re- 
gions as India, Syria, 
Armenia, Asia Minor, 
and Russia were trav- 
ersed by Timur's sol- 
diers, who left behind 
them only the smoking 
ruins of a thousand cities 
and abominable trophies 
in the shape of columns 
or pyramids of human 
heads. Timur died in 
his seventieth year, while 
leading his troops against 
China, and the exten- 
sive empire which he 
had built up in Asia soon 
crumbled to pieces. 




Tomb of Timur at Samarkand 

Samarkand in Russian Central Asia became 
Timur's capital in 1369 a.d. The city was once a 
center of Mohammedan wealth and culture, famous 
for its beautiful mosques, palaces, and colleges. The 
Gur-Amir, or tomb of Timur, consists of a chapel, 
crowned by a dome and enclosed by a wall. Time 
and earthquakes have greatly injured this fine build- 
ing. The remains of Timur lie here under a huge 
block of jade. 



177. The Mongols in China and India 

The Mongols ruled over China for about one hundred and 
fifty years. During this period they became thoroughly imbued 
with Chinese culture. " China," said an old writer, Mongol sway 
''is a sea that salts all the rivers flowing into it." "i China 
The most eminent of the Mongol emperors was Jenghiz Khan's 
grandson, Kublai (12 59-1 294 a.d.). He built a new capital, 
which in medieval times was known as Cambaluc and is now 
called Peking. While Kublai was on the throne, the Venetian 



488 The Mongols and the Ottoman Turks 

traveler, Marco Polo/ visited China, and he describes in glowing 
colors the virtues and glories of the "Great Khan." There 
appears to have been considerable trade between Europe and 
China at this time, and Franciscan missionaries and papal 
legates penetrated to the remote East. After the downfall of 
the Mongol dynasty in 1368 a.d. China again shut her doors to 
foreign peoples. All intercourse with Europe ceased until 
the arrival of the Portuguese in the sixteenth century. ^ 

Northern India, which in earlier ages had witnessed the coming 
of Persian, Macedonian, and Arabian conquerors, did not escape 
Timurand visitations by fresh Asiatic hordes. Timur the 
Baber Lame, at the head of an innumerable host, rushed 

down upon the banks of the Indus and the Ganges 
and sacked Delhi, making there a full display of his unrivaled 
ferocity. Timur's invasion left no permanent impress on the 
history of India, but its memory fired the imagination of another 
Turkish chieftain, Baber, a remote descendant of Timur. In 
1525 A.D. he invaded India and speedily made himself master of 
the northern part of the country. 

The empire which Baber estabUshed in India is known as 
that of the Moguls, an Arabic form of the word Mongol. The 
Empire of Moguls, however, were Turkish in blood and 
the Moguls Mohammedans in religion. The Mogul emperors 
reigned in great splendor from their capitals at Delhi and Agra, 
until the decline of their power in the eighteenth century opened 
the way for the British conquest of India. 

178. The Mongols in Eastern Europe 

The location of Russia^ on the border of Asia exposed that 

country to the full force of the Mongol attack. Jenghiz Kdian's 

successors, entering Europe north of the Caspian, 

conquest of swept resistlessly over the Russian plain. Mos- 

Russia, 1237- ^^-^^ ^^^ j^jgy jq[\ j^ quick succession, and before 

1240 A.D. , , ;^ . . 1 1 J r 

long the greater part of Russia was m the hands 01 
the Mongols. Wholesale massacres marked their progress. 
*'No eye remained open to weep for the dead." 

1 See page 616. 2 See page 622. 

» For the early history of Russia see page 400. 



^ "< 



c« S, 




The Mongols in Eastern Europe 



489 



Still the invaders pressed on. They devastated Hungary, 
driving the Magyar king in panic flight from his realm. They 




Russia at the end of the Middle Ages 

overran Poland. At a great battle in Silesia they destroyed 

the knighthood of Germany and filled nine sacks invasion of 

with the right ears of slaughtered enemies. The Poland and 
, 1111 • Hungary by 

European peoples, taken completely by surprise, the Mongols, 

could offer no effective resistance to these Asiatics, ^^^^ '^••^* 

who combined superiority in numbers with surpassing general- 



490 The Mongols and the Ottoman Turks 

ship. Since the Arab attack in the eighth century Christen- 
dom had never been in graver peril. But the wave of Mongol 
invasion, which threatened to engulf Europe in barbarism, 
receded as quickly as it came. The Mongols soon abandoned 
Poland and Hungary and retired to their possessions in Russia. 

The ruler of the ''Golden Horde," as the western section 
of the Mongol Empire was called, continued to be the lord of 
^YiQ Russia for about two hundred and fifty years. 

"Golden Russia, throughout this period, was little more 

°^ ® than a dependency of Asia. The conquered people 

were obliged to pay a heavy tribute and to furnish soldiers for 
the Mongol armies. Their princes, also, became vassals of the 
Great Khan. 

The Mongols, or ''Tartars" ^ are usually said to have Oriental- 
ized Russia. It seems clear, however, that they did not inter- 
Mongol ^^^^ "^^^^ ^^^ language, religion, and laws of their 
influence subjects. The chief result of the Mongol suprem- 
on ussia ^^^ ^^^ ^^ ^^^ ^^ Russia from western Europe, 

just at the time when England, France, Germany, and Italy 
were emerging from the darkness of the early Middle Ages. 

The invasion of the Mongols proved to be, indirectly, the 
making of the Russian state. Before they came the country 
Rise of was a patchwork of rival, and often warring, prin- 

Muscovy cipalities. The need of union against the common 

enemy welded them together. The principality of Muscovy, 
so named from the capital city of Moscow, conquered its neigh- 
bors, annexed the important city of Novgorod, whose vast 
possessions stretched from Lapland to the Urals, and finally 
became powerful enough to shake off the Mongol yoke. 

The final deliverance of Russia from the Mongols was accom- 
Reign of plished by Ivan III, surnamed the Great. This 

Ivan III, j-yjgj. jg g^igQ regarded as the founder of Russian 

the Great, ^ . r , i i i i • 

1462-1505 autocracy, that is, of a personal, absolute, and arbi- 

^'^' trary government. With a view to strengthening 

his claim to be the pohtical heir of the eastern emperors, 

1 The name Tartar (more correctly, Tatar) was originally applied to both Mongol 
and Turkish tribes that entered Russia. There are still over three millions of these 
"Tartars" in the Russian Empire, 



The Ottoman Turks and their Conquests 491 

Ivan married a niece of the last ruler at Constantinople, who in 
1453 A.D. had fallen in the defense of his capital against the 
Ottoman Turks. Henceforth the Russian ruler described him- \ 
self as ''the new Tsar^ Constantine in the new city of Constan- 
tine, Moscow." 

179. The Ottoman Turks and their Conquests, 
1227-1453 A.D. 

The first appearance of the Ottoman Turks in history dates 
from 1227 A.D., the year of Jenghiz Khan's death. In that 
year a small Turkish horde, driven westward from Rise of the 
their central Asian homes by the Mongol advance, Ottomans 
settled in Asia Minor. There they enjoyed the protection of 
their kinsmen, the Seljuk Turks, and from them accepted Islam. 
As the Seljuk power declined, that of the Ottomans rose in its 
stead. About 1300 a.d. their chieftain, Othman,^ declared his 
independence and became the founder of the Ottoman Empire. 

The growth of the Ottoman power was almost as rapid as that 
of the Arabs or of the Mongols. During the first half of the 
fourteenth century they firmly established them- Ottoman 
selves in northwestern Asia Minor, along the expansion 
beautiful shores washed by the Bosporus, the Sea of Marmora, 
and the Dardanelles. The second half of the same century 
found them in Europe, wresting province after province from 
the feeble hands of the eastern emperors. First came the seizure 
of Gallipoli on the Dardanelles, which long remained the prin- 
cipal Turkish naval station. Then followed the capture of 
Adrianople, where in earlier centuries the Visigoths had de- 
stroyed a Roman army. ^ By 1400 a.d. all that remained of the 
Roman Empire in the East w^as Constantinople and a small 
district in the vicinity of that city. 

The Turks owed much of their success to the famous body 
of troops known as Janizaries.^ These w^ere recruited for the 

1 The title Tsar, or Czar, is supposed to be a contraction of the word Caesar. 

2 WTience the name Ottoman appUed to this branch of the Turks. 

3 See page 242. 

* A name derived from the Turkish yeni cheri, "new troops." 



492 The Mongols and the Ottoman Turks 



Constanti- 
nople 
besieged 



most part from Christian children surrendered by their parents 
The as tribute. The Janizaries received an education 

Janizaries jj^ ^j^g Moslem faith and careful instruction in 
the use of arms. Their discipline and fanatic zeal made 
them irresistible on the field of battle. 

Constantinople had never recovered from the blow inflicted 

upon it by the free- 
booters of 
the Fourth 
Crusade.^ 
It was isolated from 
western Europe by the 
advance of the Turks. 
Frantic appeals for 
help brought only a 
few ships and men 
from Genoa and 
Venice. When in 1453 
A.D. the sultan Moham- 
med II, commanding 
a large army amply 
supplied with artillery, 
appeared before the 
walls, all men knew that Constantinople was doomed. 

The defense of the city forms one of the most stirring episodes 
in history. The Christians, not more than eight thousand in 
Capture of number, were a mere handful compared to the 
the city Ottoman hordes. Yet they held out for nearly 

two months against every assault. When at length the end drew 
near, the Roman emperor, Constantine Palasologus, a hero 
worthy of the name he bore, went with his followers at midnight 
to Sancta Sophia and there in that solemn fane received a last 
communion. Before sunrise on the following day the Turks 
were within the walls. The emperor, refusing to survive the 
city which he could not save, fell in the onrush of the Janizaries. 
Constantinople endured a sack of three days, during which 
1 See page 478. 




Mohammed II 

A medal showing the strong face of the conqueror 
of Constantinople. 



The Ottoman Turks in Southeastern Europe 493 

many works of art, previously spared by the crusaders, were 
destroyed. Mohammed II then made a triumphal entry into 
the city and in Sancta Sophia, now stripped of its crosses, 
images, and other Christian emblems, proclaimed the faith of 
the prophet. And so the ''Turkish night," as Slavic poets 
named it, descended on this ancient home of civilization. 

The capture of Constantinople is rightly regarded as an 
epoch-making event. It meant the end, once for all, of the 
empire which had served so long as the rearguard An epoch- 
of Christian civilization, as the bulwark of the making event 
West against the East. Europe stood aghast at a calamity 
which she had done so httle to prevent. The Christian powers 
of the West have been paying dearly, even to our own time, for 
their failure to save New Rome from infidel hands. 

180. The Ottoman Turks in Southeastern Europe 

Turkey was now a European state. After the occupation of 
Constantinople the Ottoman territories continued to expand, 
and at the death of Mohammed II they included continued 
what are now Bulgaria, Rumania, Serbia, Albania, Ottoman 
and Greece. Of all the Balkan states only tiny ^^p^^^^^^ 
Montenegro, protected by mountain ramparts, preserved its 
independence. 

The Turks form a small minority among the inhabitants of 
the Balkans. At the present time there are said to be less than 
one milhon Turks in southeastern Europe. Even Nature of 
about Constantinople the Greeks far outnumber Turkish rule 
them. The Turks from the outset have been, not a nation in 
the proper sense of the w^ord, but rather an army of occupation, 
holding down by force their far more numerous Christian 
subjects. 

The people w^ho thus acquired dominion over all southeastern 
Europe had become, even at the middle of the fifteenth century, 
greatly mixed in blood. Their ancestors were The Turks a 
natives of central Asia, but in Europe they inter- °^®<l p^^p^® 
married freely with their Christian captives and with converts 
from Christianity to Islam. So far has this admixture proceeded 



494 The Mongols and the Ottoman Turks 




The Ottoman Turks in Southeastern Europe 495 

that the modern Turks are almost entirely European in physique. 

The Bulgarians, who came out of Asia to devastate Europe, 
at length turned Christian, adopted a Slavic speech, and entered 
the family of European nations. The Magyars, isolation of 
who followed them, also made their way into the *^® Turks 
fellowship of Christendom. Quite the opposite has been the 
case with the Turks. Preserving their Asiatic language and 
Moslem faith, they have remained in southeastern Europe, not 
a transitory scourge, but an abiding oppressor of Christian 
lands. Every century since 1453 a.d. has widened the gulf 
between them and their subjects. 

The isolation of the Turks has prevented them from assim- 
ilating the higher culture of the peoples whom they conquered. 

They have never created anything^ in science, art, „ , . , 
,. -^ . ; r^ 1 Turkish 

literature, commerce, or mdustry. Conquest has influence in 

been the Turks' one business in the world, and southeastern 

Europe 
when they ceased conquering their decline set in. 

But it was not till the end of the seventeenth century that the 

Turkish Empire entered on that downward road which is now 

fast leading to its extinction as a European power. 

studies 

I. Locate these cities: Bokhara; Samarkand; Merv; Herat; Bagdad; Peking; 
Delhi; Kiev; Moscow; and Adrianople. 2. Who were Baber, Kublai Khan, 
Othman, Mohammed II, Constantine Palaeologus, and Ivan the Great? 3. Why 
should the steppes of central and northern Asia have been a nursery of warlike 
peoples? 4. W^hat parts of Asia were not included in the Mongol Empire at its 
greatest extent? 5. Trace on the map on page 4S6 the further expansion of the 
Mongol Empire after the death of Jenghiz Khan. 6. "Scratch a Russian and you 
will find a Tartar." What does this mean? 7. Why did the Mongol conquest of 
Russia tend to strengthen the sentiment of nationality in the Russian people? 
8. How did the tsars come to regard themselves as the successors of the Eastern 
emperors? 9. Compare the Janizaries with the Christian military-religious orders. 

10. How was "the victory of the Crescent secured by the children of the Cross"? 

11. Why were the invasions of the Mongols and Ottoman Turks more destructive 
to civilization than those of the Germans, the Arabs, and the Northmen? 

12. Enumerate the more important services of the Roman Empire in the East 
to civilization, 13. On an outline map indicate the extent of the Ottoman Empire 
in 1453 A.D. 



CHAPTER XXII 
EUROPEAN NATIONS DURING THE LATER MIDDLE AGES^ 

181. Growth of the Nations 

The map of western Europe, that is, of Europe west of the 
great Russian plain and the Balkan peninsula, shows this part 
The new of the continent at present divided into no less 

nationalism ^j^g^j^ thirteen separate and independent nations. 
Most of them arose during the latter part of the Middle Ages. 
They have existed so long that we now think of the national 
state as the highest type of human association, forgetting that 
it has been preceded by other forms of poUtical organization, 
such as the Greek republic, the Roman Empire, and the feudal 
state, and that it may be followed some day by an international 
or universal state composed of all civilized peoples. 

These national states were the successors of feudahsm. The 
establishment of the feudal system in any country meant, as 
The national ^^^ hetn seen, its division into numerous small 
state and communities, each with a law court, treasury, and 

feudaUsm army. This system of local government helped 
to keep order in an age of confusion, but it did not meet the 
needs of a progressive society. In most parts of Europe the 
feudal states gradually gave way to centraHzed governments 
ruled by despotic kings. 

A feudal king was often little more than a figurehead, equaled, 
or perhaps surpassed, in power by some of his own vassals. But 
The new in England, France, Spain, and other countries a 

monarchies series of astute and energetic sovereigns were able 
to strengthen their authority at the expense of the nobles. 
They formed permanent armies by insisting that all mihtary 
service should be rendered to themselves and not to the feudal 

1 Webster, Readings in Medieval and Modern History, chapter xiv, "St. Louis"; 
chapter xv, "Episodes of the Hundred Years' War"; chapter xvi, "Memoirs of a 
French Courtier." 

496 



England under William the Conqueror 497 

lords. They got into their own hands the administration of 
justice. They developed a revenue system, with the taxes 
collected by royal officers and deposited in the royal treasury. 
The kings thus succeeded in creating in each country one 
power which all the inhabitants feared, respected, and 
obeyed. 

A national state in modern times is keenly conscious of its 
separate existence. All its people usually speak the same 
language and have for their "fatherland" the xhe senti- 
warmest feelings of patriotic devotion. In the ment of 
Middle Ages, however, patriotism was commonly °^ °^ ^ 
confounded with loyalty to the sovereign, while the differences 
between nations were obscured by the existence of an inter- 
national Church and by the use of Latin as the common language 
of all cultivated persons. The sentiment of nationality arose 
earlier in England than on the Continent, partly owing to the 
insular position of that country, but nowhere did it become 
a very strong influence before the end of the fifteenth century. 

182. England under William the Conqueror, 
1066-1087 A.D.; the Norman Kingship 

The Normans wxre the last invaders of England. Since 
1066 A.D. the English Channel, not more than twenty-one 
miles wide between Dover and Calais, has formed jj^^ j^^^ 
a watery barrier against Continental domination, invasion 
The English people, for eight and a half centuries, ° °^ ^ 
have been free to develop their ideals, customs, and methods of 
government in their own way. We shall now learn how they 
established a strong monarchy and at the same time laid deep 
and firm the foundations of constitutional liberty. 

William the Conqueror had w^on England by force of arms. 
He ruled it as a despot. Those who resisted him he treated 
as rebels, confiscating their land and giving it to wiUiam's 
Norman followers. To prevent uprisings he built despotic nUe 
a castle in every important town and garrisoned -it with his own 
soldiers. The Tower of London still stands as an impressive 
memorial of the days of the Conquest. But William did not 



498 - Europe during the Later Middle Ages 



rely on force alone. He sought with success to attach the 
English to himself by retaining most of their old customs and 
by giving them an enlightened administration of the law. 
''Good peace he made in this land," said the old Anglo-Saxon 
chronicler, "so that a man might travel over the kingdom with 

his bosom full of gold 
without molestation, 
and no man durst 
kill another, however 
great the injury he 
might have received 
from him." 

The feudal system 
on the Continent 
permitted a powerful 
Waiiam and noble tO 
feudalism gather 

his vassals and make 
war on the king, 
whenever he chose to 
do so. William had 
been familiar with 
this evil side of feu- 
dalism, both in France 
and in his own duchy 
of Normandy, and he 
determined to pre- 
vent its introduction into England. William estabhshed the 
principle that a vassal owed his first duty to the king and 
not to his immediate lord. If a noble rebelled and his men 
followed him, they were to be treated as traitors. Rebelhon 
proved to be an especially difficult matter in England, since 
the estates which a great lord possessed were not all in any 
one place but were scattered about the kingdom. A noble 
who planned to revolt could be put down before he was 
able to collect his retainers from the most distant parts of 
the country. 




The "White Tower" 

Forms part of the Tower of London. Built by 
William the Conqueror. 



Royal Justice and the Common Law 499 

The extent of William's authority is illustrated by the survey 
which he caused to have made of the taxable property of the 
kingdom. Royal commissioners went throughout Domesday 
the length and breadth of England to find out how Book, 
much farm land there was in every county, how ' * 

many landowners there were, and what each man possessed, 
to the last ox or cow or pig. The reports were set down in the 
famous Domesday Book, perhaps so called because one could 

Tcox adciw- ^^.1^7 ^:Aevavt tnelltf. iomtaxi ^Icpw 
fl/tutt^(5 rex t(%tt'm wpedti^cne: yiipxcnfcfy^, itjo// 

A Passage from Domesday Book 

Beginning of the entry for Oxford. The handwriting is the beautiful Carolingian 
minuscule which the Norman Conquest introduced into England. The two volumes 
of this compilation and the chest in which they were formerly preserved may be seen 
in the Public Record Office, London. 

no more appeal from it than from the Last Judgment. A 
similar census of population and property had never before 
been taken in the Middle Ages. 

Almost at the close of his reign William is said to have sum- 
moned all the landowning men in England to a great meeting 
on Salisbury Plain. They assembled there to xheSaUsbury 
the number, as it is reported, of sixty thousand Oath, 
and promised ''that they would be faithful to ^°^® ^•°- 
him against all other men." The Sahsbury Oath was a 
national act of homage and allegiance to the king. 

183. England under Henry II, 1154-1189 A.D.; 
Royal Justice and the Common Law 

Henry H, who ascended the English throne in 11 54 a.d., was 
a grandson of William the Conqueror and the first of the famous 



500 Europe during the Later Middle Ages 

Plantagenet ^ family. Henry spent more than half of his 
Henry II, reign abroad, looking after his extensive posses- 

Plantagenet sions in France, but this fact did not prevent him 
from giving England good government. Three things in which 
all Englishmen take special pride — the courts, the jury sys- 
tem, and the Common law — began to take shape during 
Henry's reign. 

Henry, first of all, developed the royal court of justice. 
This had been, at first, simply the court of the king's chief 
The king's vassals, corresponding to the local feudal courts. ^ 
court Henry transformed it from an occasional assembly 

of w^arlike nobles into a regular body of trained lawyers, and at 
the same time opened its doors to all except serfs. In the 
king's court any freeman could find a justice that was cheaper 
and speedier than that dispensed by the feudal lords. The 
higher courts of England have sprung from this institution. 

Henry also took measures to bring the king's justice directly 
to the people. He sent members of the royal court on circuit 
Circuit throughout the kingdom. At least once a year a 

judges judge was to hold an assembly in each county and 

try such cases as were brought before him. This system of cir- 
cuit judges helped to make the law uniform in all parts of 
England. 

The king's court ow^d much of its popularity to the fact that 
it employed a better form of trying cases than the old ordeal. 
Trial by oath-swearing, or judicial duel. Henry introduced 

"petty jury" ^ method of jury trial which had long been in use 
in Normandy. When a case came before the king's judges on 
circuit, they were to select twelve knights, usually neighbors of 
the parties engaged in the dispute, to make an investigation 
and give a "verdict" ^ as to which side was in the right. These 
selected men bore the name of " jurors," "^ because they swore to 

1 The name comes from that of the broom plant (Latin planta genesta), a sprig 
of which Henry's father used to wear in his hat. The family is also called Angevin, 
because Henry on his father's side descended from the counts of Anjou in France. 

2 See page 419. 

3 Latin verum dictum, "a true statement." 
* Latin y^^ro, "I take an oath." 




C " fn 
ui 2 






^^^■yil'-f^^ 



502 Europe during the Later Middle Ages 

tell the truth. In Henry's time this method of securing justice 
applied only to civil cases, that is, to cases affecting land and 
other forms of property, but later it was extended to persons 
charged with criminal offenses. Thus arose the "petty jury," 
an institution which nearly all European peoples have borrowed 
from England. 

Another of Henry's innovations developed into the "grand 
jury." Before his time many offenders went unpunished, 
Accusation especially if they were so powerful that no 
by the private individual dared accuse them. Henry 

gran jury pj-Qvided that when the king's justices came to a 
county court a number of selected men should be put upon 
their oath and required to give the names of any persons whom 
they knew or beheved to be guilty of crimes. Such persons 
were then to be arrested and tried. This "grand jury," as it 
came to be called, thus had the public duty of making accusa- 
tions, whether its members felt any personal interest in the 
matter or not. 

The decisions handed down by the legal experts who com- 
posed the royal court formed the basis of the Enghsh system of 
The jurisprudence. It received the name Common 

Common law jg^^y because it grew out of such customs as wTre 
common to the realm, as distinguished from those which were 
merely local. This law, from Henry's II's time, became so 
widespread and so firmly established that it could not be 
supplanted by the Roman law followed on the Continent. 
Carried by English colonists across the seas, it has now come 
to prevail throughout a great part of the world. 

184. The Great Charter, 1215 A.D. 

The great Henry, from whose legal reforms English-speaking 
peoples receive benefit even to-day, was followed by his son, 

Richard, the Lion-hearted crusader.^ After a 
and John, short reign Richard was succeeded by his brother, 
1189-1216 John, a man so cruel, tyrannical, and wicked that 

he is usually regarded as the w^orst of Enghsh 
kings. In a war with the French ruler, Philip Augustus, John 

1 See pages 475-476. 



The Great Charter 



503 



6 Longitude 4 West from 2 Greenwich Longitude 2 East from 4 Greenwich G 

It 1 r 




S P, A I, N 






Dominions of the Plantagenets in England and Feai^ce 



504 Europe during the Later Middle Ages 

lost Normandy and some of the other English possessions on 
the Continent.^ In a dispute with Innocent III he ended by 
making an abject submission to the Papacy.^ Finally, his 
oppressive government provoked a revolt and extorted from 
him the famous charter of privileges known as Magna Carta. 

Extract from the Great Charter 

Facsimile of the opening lines. Four copies of Magna Carta, sealed with the great 
seal of King John, as well as several unsealed copies, are in existence. The British 
Museum possesses two of the sealed copies; the other two belong to the cathedrals of 
Lincoln and Salisbury, respectively. 

The Norman Conquest had made the king so strong that his 

authority could be resisted only by a union of all classes of the 

„,. . , people. The feudal lords were oblisjed to unite 
Winning of ^ ^ ° 

Magna with the clergy and the commons,^ in order to 

?^^\ T^ s^^^ their honor, their estates, and their heads. 

1215 A.D. 

Matters came to a crisis m 1215 a.d., when the 
nobles, supported by the archbishop of Canterbury, placed 
their demands for reform in WTiting before the king. John 
swore furiously that they were "idle dreams without a shadow 
of reason" and refused to make any concessions. Thereupon 
the nobles formed the "army of God and the Holy Church," 
as it was called, and occupied London, thus ranging the towns- 
people on their side. Deserted by all except the hired troops 
which he had brought from the Continent, John was compelled 

1 See page 514. 2 See page 461. 

' A term which refers to all freemen in town and country below the rank of 
nobles. 



Parliament during the Thirteenth Century 505 

to yield. At Runnimede on the Thames, not far from Windsor, 
he set his seal to the Great Charter. 

Magna Carta does not profess to be a charter of liberties for 
all Englishmen. Most of its sixty-three clauses merely guaran- 
tee to each member of the coahtion against John character 
— nobles, clergy, and commons — those special of Magna 
privileges which the Norman rulers had tried to ^^^ 
take away. Very little is said in this long document about the 
serfs, who composed probably five-sixths of the population of 
England in the thirteenth century. 

But there are three clauses of Magna Carta which came to 
have a most important part in the history of Enghsh freedom. 
The first declared that no taxes were to be levied significance 
on the nobles — besides the three recognized of Magna 
feudal aids ^ — except by consent of the Great ^^^ 
Council of the realm. ^ By this clause the nobles compelled the 
king to secure their consent before imposing any taxation. The 
second set forth that no one was to be arrested, imprisoned, or 
punished in any way, except after a trial by his equals and in 
accordance with the law of the land. The third said simply 
that to no one should justice be sold, denied, or delayed. These 
last two clauses contained the germ of great legal principles 
on which 'the English people relied for protection against 
despotic kings. They form a part of our American inherit- 
ance from England and have passed into the laws of all our 
states. 

185. Parliament during the Thirteenth Century 

The thirteenth century, which opened so auspiciously with 
the winning of the Great Charter, is also memorable -^^^^ m 
as the time when England developed her Parlia- 1216-1272 
ment ^ into something like its present form. The * * 
first steps in parliamentary government were taken during 
the reign of John's son, Henry III. 

1 See page 418. 2 Made up of the chief lords and bishops. 

3 The word "parliament," from French parler, "to speak," originally meant a 
talk or conference. Later, the word caine to be applied to the body of persons 
assembled for conference. 



5o6 Europe during the Later Middle Ages 

It had long been the custom in England that in all important 
matters a ruler ought not to act without the advice and con- 

sent of his leading men. The Anglo-Saxon kings 
nagemot and sought the advice and consent of their Witenage- 
the Great mot/ a body of nobles, royal officers, bishops, 

and abbots. It approved laws, served as a court 
of final appeal, elected a new monarch, and at times deposed 
him. The Witenagemot did not disappear after the Norman 
Conquest. Under the name of the Great Council it continued 
to meet from time to time for consultation with the king. This 
assembly was now to be transformed from a feudal body into a 
parliament representing the entire nation. 

The Great Council, which by one of the provisions of Magna 
Carta had been required to give its consent to the levying of 

feudal dues, met quite frequently during Henry 
Montfort's IH's reign. On one occasion, when Henry was 
ParUament, jj^ urgent need of money and the bishops and lords 

1265 A.D. r . . ^ ^ ■ ,,..^ 

refused to grant it, the kmg took the significant 
step of calling to the council two knights from each county to 
declare what aid they would give him. These knights, so ran 
Henry's summons, were to come ''in the stead of each and all," 
in other words, they were to act as representatives of the coun- 
ties. Then in 1265 a.d., when the nobles were at war with the 
king, a second and even more significant step was taken. Their 
leader, Simon de Montfort, summoned to the council not only 
two knights from each county, but also two citizens from each 
of the more important towns. 

The custom of selecting certain men to act in the name 
and on the behalf of the community had existed during Anglo- 
Therepre- Saxon times in local government. Representa- 
sentative tives of the counties had been employed by the 

sys em Norman kings to act as assessors in levying taxes. 

As we have just learned, the ''juries" of Henry II also consisted 
of such representatives. The English people, in fact, were quite 
familiar with the idea of representation long before it was 
applied on a larger scale to Parliament. 

^ See page 407 and note i. 



Expansion of England under Edward I 507 

Simon de Montfort's Parliament included only his own sup- 
porters, and hence was not a truly national body. But it made 
a precedent for the future. Thirty years later <, ^ , , 
Edward I called together at Westminster, now a Parliament" 
part of London, a Parliament which included all ?13^^^ ^' 
classes of the people. Here were present arch- 
bishops, bishops, and abbots, earls and barons, two knights 
from every county, and two townsmen to represent each town 
in that county. After this time all these classes were regularly 
summoned to meet in assembly at Westminster. 

The separation of Parliament into two chambers came in 
the fourteenth century. The House of Lords „ 

House of 

included the nobles and higher clergy, the House Lords and 

of Commons, the representatives from counties House of 

. . Commons 
and cities. This bicameral arrangement, as it is 

called, has been followed in the parliaments of most modern 
countries. 

The early Enghsh Parhament was not a law-making but a 
tax-voting body. The king would call the two houses in session 
only when he needed their sanction for raising Powers of 
money. Parliament in its turn would refuse to ParUament 
grant supplies until the king had corrected abuses in the admin- 
istration or had removed unpopular officials. This control 
of the pubhc purse in time enabled Parliament to grasp other 
powers. It became an accepted principle that royal officials 
were responsible to Parliament for their actions, that the king 
himself might be deposed for good cause, and that bills, when 
passed by Parliament and signed by the king, were the law of 
the land. England thus worked out in the Middle Ages a 
system of parliamentary government which nearly all civilized 
nations have held worthy of imitation. 

186. Expansion of England under Edward I, 
1272-1307 A.D. 

Our narrative has been confined until now to England, which 
forms, together with Wales and Scotland, the island known as 
Great Britain. Ireland is the only other important division of 



5o8 Europe during the Later Middle Ages 



the United Kingdom. It was almost inevitable that in process 
The of time the British Isles should have come under 

Bntish Isles g^ single government, but political unity has not 
yet fused Enghsh, Scotch, Welsh, and Irish into a single 
people. 

The conquest of Britain by the Anglo-Saxons drove many of 

the Welsh,^ as the invaders called the Britons, 

into the western part of the island. This district, 

henceforth known as Wales, was one of the last strongholds of 

the Celts. Even to-day a vari- 
ety of the old Celtic language, 
called Cymric, is still spoken by 
the Welsh people. 

In their wild and mountain- 
ous country the Welsh long 
resisted aU attempts to subju- 
Conquest gate them. Harold 
of Wales exerted some au- 

thority over Wales, William 



the Conqueror entered part of 
it, and Henry II induced the 
local rulers to acknowledge him 
as overlord, but it was Edward 
I who first brought all Wales 
under English sway. Edward 




Coronation Chair, Westminster 
Abbey 

Every English ruler since Edward I has fostcrcd the building of tOWUS 

been crowned in this oak chair. Under the jj^ J^jg ^CW pOSSCSSion, divided 

seat is the "Stone of Scone," said to have . . 

been once used by the patriarch Jacob, it mtO COUUtriCS Or shirCS, after 

Edward I brought it to London in 1 291 A.D, ^j^g systcm that prevailed in 

as a token of the subjection of Scotland. _, , , . . 

England, and mtroduced the 
Common law. He called his son, Edward II, who was born 
in the country, the "Prince of Wales," and this title has ever 
since been borne by the heir apparent to the English throne. 
The work of uniting Wales to England went on slowly, and 
two centuries elapsed before Wales was granted representation 
in the House of Commons. 



» See page 319. 



Expansion of England under Edward I 509 

Scodand derives its name from the Scots, who came over from 
Ireland early in the fifth century.^ The northern Highlands, 



scotla:n^d 

In the 13th Century 



Scale of English Miles 



r^C3^^ ORKNEY 
^V-V^ ISLANDS 

8T 




NORTH 



SEA 



IRELAND \ 



Longitude West 



PETERS. EMCRS, 



a nest of rugged mountains washed by cold and stormy seas, 
have always been occupied in historic times by a 
Celtic-speaking people, whose language, called 
Gaelic, is not yet extinct there. This part of Scotland, like 
Wales, was a home of freedom. The Romans did not attempt 
to annex the Highlands, and the Anglo-Saxons and Danes never 



1 See page 246. 



5IO Europe during the Later Middle Ages 



The Scottish 
kingdom 



an 



penetrated their fastnesses. On the other hand the southern 
Lowlands, which include only about one-third of Scotland, 
were subdued by the Teutonic invaders, and so this district 
became thoroughly English in language and culture.^ 

One might suppose that the Lowlands, geographically only 

an extension of northern 
England and 
inhabited by 
English-speaking 
people, would have -early 
united with the southern 
kingdom. But matters 
turned out otherwise. 
The Lowlands and the 
Highlands came together 
under a line of Celtic 
kings, who fixed their resi- 
dence at Edinburgh and 
long maintained their in- 
dependence. 

Edward I, having con- 
quered Wales, took ad- 
Scotland vantage of 
annexed by the disturbed 

Edward I j • 4. • 

conditions 

which prevailed in Scot- 
land to interfere in the 
affairs of that country. The Scotch offered a brave but futile 
resistance under William Wallace. This heroic leader, who 
held out after most of his countrymen submitted, was finally 
captured and executed. His head, according to the barbarous 
practice of the time, was set upon a pole on London Bridge. 
The Enghsh king now annexed Scotland without further 
opposition. 

But Wilham Wallace by his life and still more by his death 
had lit a fire which might never be quenched. Soon the Scotch 

1 See the map, page 321. 




A Queen Eleanor Cross 

After the death of his wife Eleanor, Edward I 
caused a memorial cross to be set up at each place 
where her funeral procession had stopped on its way 
to London. There were originally seven crosses. 
Of the three that still exist, the Geddington cross is 
the best preserved. It consists of three stories and 
stands on a platform of eight steps. 



Unification of France 511 

found another champion in the person of Robert Bruce. 

Edward I, now old and broken, marched against „ ^ 

' . ' ° Robert Bruce 

him, but died before reaching the border. The and Ban- 
weakness of his son, Edward II, permitted the ^JfJ^lJ^' 
Scotch, ably led by Bruce, to win the signal vic- 
tory of Bannockburn, near Stirling Castle. Here the Scottish 
spearmen drove the English knighthood into ignominious flight 
and freed their country from its foreign overlords. 

The battle of Bannockburn made a nation. A few years 
afterwards the English formally recognized the independence 
of the northern kingdom. So the great design of Scottish 
Edward I to unite all the peoples of Britain under independence 
one government had to be postponed for centuries.^ 

No one kingdom ever arose in Ireland out of the numerous 

tribes into which the Celtic-speaking inhabitants were divided. 

The island was not troubled, however, by foreign , , , 

Ireland 
invaders till the coming of the Northmen in the 

ninth century.^ The English, who first entered Ireland during 

the reign of Henry II, did not complete its conquest till the 

seventeenth century. Ireland by its situation could scarcely 

fail to become an appanage of Great Britain, but the dividing 

sea has combined with differences in race, language, and religion, 

and with English misgovernment, to prevent anything like a 

genuine union of the conquerors and the conquered. 

187. Unification of France, 987-1328 A.D. 

Nature seems to have intended that France should play a 
leading part in European affairs. The geographical unity of 
the country is obvious. Mountains and seas Physical 
form its permanent boundaries, except on the north- ^^^^^ 
east where the frontier is not well defined. The western coast 
of France opens on the Atlantic, now the greatest highway of 
the world's commerce, while on the southeast France touches 
the Mediterranean, the home of classical civilization. This 

1 In 1603 A.D. James VI of Scotland ascended the throne of England as James I. 
In 1707 A.D. the two countries adopted a plan of union which gave them a common 
Parliament and one flag. 2 See page 397. 



512 Europe during the Later Middle Ages 

intermediate position between two seas helps us to understand 
why French history should form, as it were, a connecting link 
between ancient and modern times. 

But the greatness of France has been due, also, to the qualities 
of the French people. Many racial elements have contributed 
Racial to the population. The blood of prehistoric 

France tribes, whose monuments and grave mounds are 

scattered over the land, still flows in the veins of Frenchmen. 
At the opening of historic times France was chiefly occupied 
by the Celts, whom Julius Caesar found there and subdued. 
The Celts, or Gauls, have formed in later ages the main stock 
of the French nation, but their language gave place to Latin 
after the Roman conquest. In the course of five hundred years 
the Gauls were so thoroughly Romanized that they may best be 
described as Gallo-Romans. The Burgundians, Franks, and 
Northmen afterwards added a Teutonic element to the pop- 
ulation, as well as some infusion of Teutonic laws and 
customs. 

France, again, became a great nation because of the greatness 
of its rulers. Hugh Capet, who became the French king in 
jYiQ 987 A.D.,1 was fortunate in his descendants. The 

Capetian Capetian dynasty was long lived, and for more 

ynasty ^-^^^ three centuries son followed father on the 

throne without a break in the succession. ^ .During this time 
the French sovereigns worked steadily to exalt the royal power 
and to unite the feudal states of medieval France into a real 
nation under a common government. Their success in this 
task made them, at the close of the Middle Ages, the strongest 
monarchs in Europe. 

Hugh Capet's duchy — the original France — included only 
France and a small Stretch of inland country centering about 
its fiefs Paris on the Seine and Orleans on the Loire. His 

election to the kingship did not increase his power over the 
great lords who ruled in Normandy, Brittany, Aquitaine, 

1 See page 403. 

2 From 987 A.D. to 1328 a.d. France had only fourteen kings. The average 
length of their reigns was, therefore, something more than twenty-four years. 



Unification of France 



513 



Burgundy, and other parts of the country. They did homage 
to the king for their fiefs and performed the usual feudal services, 







^ 7 « + + + +V I-— 

^ j^^"^ *s Toulousp 

Scale of Miles "^^ ^.^ > <^ \ v . 



'<f+i5c'' 







Unification of France during the Middle Ages 

but otherwise regarded' themselves as independent in their 
own territories. 

The most considerable additions to the royal domains were 
made by Philip II, called Augustus. We have already referred 
to his contest with Pope Innocent III and to his participation 



514 Europe during the Later Middle Ages 

in the Third Crusade.^ The English king, John, was PhiHp's 
vassal for Normandy and other provinces in France. A 
quarrel between the two rulers gave Philip an 
Augustus, opportunity to declare John's fiefs forfeited by 
1180-1223 feudal law. Philip then seized all the EngHsh 
possessions north of the river Loire. The loss of 
these possessions abroad had the result of separating England 
almost completely from Continental interests; for France it 
meant a great increase in territory and population. Philip 
made Paris his chief residence, and that city henceforth 
became the capital of France. 

During the long reign of Philip's grandson, Louis IX, rich 
districts to the west of the Rhone were added to the royal 
Louis IX the domains. This king, whose Christian virtues 
Saint, 1226- led to his canonization, distinguished himseh as 
1270 A.D. ^^ administrator. His work in unifying France 
may be compared with that of Henry II in England. He 
decreed that only the king's money was to circulate in the 
provinces owned directly by himself, thus limiting the right of 
coinage enjoyed by feudal lords. He restricted very greatly 
the right of private war and forbade the use of judicial duels. 
Louis also provided that important cases could be appealed 
from feudal courts to the king's judges, who sat in Paris and 
followed in their decisions the principles of Roman law. In 
these and other ways he laid the foundations of absolute mon- 
archy in France. 

The grandson of St. Louis, Philip IV, did much to organize 
a financial system for France. Now that the kingdom had 
Philip IV the become so large and powerful, the old feudal dues 
Fair, 1285- were insufficient to pay the salaries of the royal 
1314 A. . officials and support a standing army. Philip 
resorted to new methods of raising revenue by imposing various 
taxes and by requiring the feudal lords to substitute payments 
in money for the military service due from them. 

Philip also called into existence the Estates-General, an 
assembly in which the clergy, the nobles, and representatives 
1 See pages 461, 475. 



The Hundred Years' War 



515 



from the commons (the ''third estate") met as separate 
bodies and voted grants of money. The Estates- The Estates- 
General arose almost at the same time as the General 
English ParUament, to which it corresponded, but it never 
secured the extensive authority of that body. After a time 
the kings of France became so powerful that they managed to 
reign without once summoning the nation in council. The 
French did not succeed, as the English had done, in founding 
political liberty upon the vote and control of taxation. 

188. The Hundred Years' War between France 
and England, 1337-1453 A.D. 

The task of unifying France was interrupted by a deplorable 
war between that country and Eng- 
land. It continued, including periods 
of truce, for over a cen- Pretext for 
tury. The pretext for the ^^ ^" 
war was found in a disputed succes- 
sion. In 1328 A.D. the last of the 
three sons of Philip IV passed away, 
and the direct line of the house of 
Capet, which had reigned over France 
for more than three hundred years, 
came to an end. The English ruler, 
Edward III, whose mother was the 
daughter of Philip IV, considered him- 
self the next Hneal heir, 
nobles were naturally unwilling to re- 




RoYAL Arms of 
Edward III 



Edward III, having in 1340 

The French a.d. set up a claim to the throne 

of France, proceeded to add the 

French lilies {fleurs-de-lis) to his 

ceive a foreigner as king, and gave coat of arms. He also took as 

J.T ,1 • - 1 j^ 1 r his motto Dieu el mon Droit 

the throne, mstead, to a nephew of ^.^^^ ^^^ ^^ ^.^^^„^ ^^^ 

Philip IV. This decision was after- Hlies of France remained in the 

wards justified on the ground that, Ll ^.111 "'etat;/"' ""^ 
by the old law of the SaHan Franks, 

women could neither inherit estates nor transmit them to 
a son.^ 



1 Hence the name "Salic law" applied to the rule excluding women from suc- 
cession to the French throne. 



5i6 Europe during the Later Middle Ages 



Edward III at first accepted the situation. Philip VI, how- 
ever, irritated Edward by constant encroachments on the 
Reasons for territories which the EngHsh still kept in France, 
the war Philip also alhed himself with the Scotch and inter- 

fered with English trade interests in the county of Flanders.^ 
This attitude of hostility provoked retaliation. Edward now^ 

reasserted his claim to the crown 
of France and prepared by force of 
arms to make it good. 

In 1346 A.D. Edw^ard led his 
troops across the Channel and 
Battles of at Crecy gained a com- 
Cr£cy,i346 plete victory over the 
A.D., and f . , , ^ r t. 

Poitiers, 1356 kmghthood of France. 
^•^- Ten years later the 

EngHsh at Poitiers almost annihi- 
lated another French force much 
superior in numbers. These two 
battles were mainly won by foot 
soldiers armed with the long bow, 
in the use of which the English 
excelled. Ordinary iron mail could 
not resist the hea\y, yard-long 
arrows, which fell with murderous 
effect upon the bodies of men and horses alike. Henceforth 
infantry, when properly armed and led, were to prove them- 
selves on many a bloody field more than a match for feudal 
cavalry. The long bow, follow^ed later by the musket, struck 
a deadly blow at feudalism. 

Edward's son, the Prince of Wales, w^hen only sixteen years 
of age, won his spurs by distinguished conduct at Crecy. It 
The " Black was the ''Black Prince," ^ also, who gained the day 
Prince" ^^ Poitiers, where he took prisoner the French 

king, John. Toward his royal captive he behaved in chivalrous 




English Archer 

From an old manuscript. 



1 See page 550. 

2 Probably so called from the black armor which he wore. It may still be seen 
above his tomb in Canterbury Cathedral. 



The Hundred Years' War 517 

fashion. At supper, on the evening of the battle, he stood 
behind John's chair and waited on him, praising the king's 
brave deeds. But this ''flower of knighthood," who regarded 
warfare as only a tournament on a larger scale, could be ruthless 
in his treatment of the common people. On one occasion he 
caused three thousand inhabitants of a captured town — men, 
women and children — to be butchered before his eyes. The 
incident shows how far apart in the Middle Ages were chivalry 
and humanity. 

The English, in spite of their victories, could not conquer 
France. The French refused to fight more pitched battles and 
retired to their castles and fortified towns. The Renewal of 
war almost ceased for many years after the death *^® ^"" 
of Edward III. It began again early in the fifteenth century, 
and the English this time met with more success. They gained 
possession of almost all France north of the Loire, except the 
important city of Orleans. Had the English taken it, French 
resistance must have collapsed. That they did not take it 
was due to one of the most remarkable women in history-^ 
Joan of Arc.^ 

Joan was a peasant girl, a native of the little village of Dom- 
remy. Always a devout and imaginative child, she early began 
to see visions of saints and angels and to hear xhe^Maid 
mysterious voices. At the time of the siege of of Orleans," 
Orleans the archangel Michael appeared to her, * ' 

so she declared, and bade her go forth and save France. Joan 
obeyed, and though barely seventeen years of age made her 
way to the court of the French king. There her piety, simplic- 
ity, and evident faith in her mission overcame all doubts. Clad 
in armor, girt with an ancient sword, and with a white banner 
borne before her, Joan was allowed to accompany an army for 
the relief of Orleans. She inspired the French with such enthu- 
siasm that they quickly compelled the English to raise the siege. 
Then Joan led her king to Reims and stood beside him at his 
coronation in the cathedral. 

Though Joan was soon afterwards captured by the English, 

1 In French, Jeanne d'Arc. 



5i8 Europe during the Later Middle Ages 

who, to their lasting dishonor, burned her as a witch, her example 
End of nerved the French to further resistance. The 

the war English gradually lost ground and in 1453 ^-D-, 

the year of the fall of Constantinople, abandoned the effort to 
conquer a land much larger than their own. They retained of 
the French territories only the port of Calais and the Channel 
Islands.^ 

Few wars have had less to justify them, either in their causes 
or in their consequences, than this long struggle between Eng- 
Effects of land and France. It was a calamity to both lands, 
the war Yoy England it meant the dissipation abroad of 

the energies which would have been better employed at home. 
For France it resulted in w^idespread destruction of property, 
untold suffering, famines, and terrible loss of life. From this 
time dates that traditional hostility between the tw^o countries 
which was to involve them in future conflicts. One beneficial 
effect the war did have. It helped to make the tw^o nations 
conscious of their separate existence. The growth of a national 
feeling, the awakening of a sentiment of patriotism, was es- 
pecially marked in France, which had fought so long for 
independence. 

Shortly after the conclusion of the Hundred Years' War the 
two branches of the English royal family became involved in 
desperate struggle for the crown. It was known as the War of 
England after ^^^ Roses, because the house of York took as its 
the Hiindred badge a w^hite rose and the house of Lancaster, a 
ears' War ^^^ ^^^^^ ^j^^ contest lasted till 1485 A.D., when 
the Lancastrians conquered, and their leader, Henry Tudor, 
ascended the throne as Henry VII. He married a Yorkist wife, 
thus uniting the tw^o factions, and founded the Tudor dynasty. 
The War of the Roses arrested the progress of EngHsh freedom. 
They created a demand for a strong monarchy which could 
keep order and prevent civil strife between the nobles. The 
Tudors met that demand and ruled as absolute sovereigns. It 
was more than a century before Parliament, representing the 

1 Calais went back to the French in 1558 a.d. The Channel Islands are still 
English possessions. 



Unification of Spain 519 

people, could begin to win back free government. It did this 
only at the cost of a revolution. 

France also issued from the Hundred Years' War with an 
absolute government. Strengthened by victory over the 
English, the French kings were able to reduce France after 
both the nobility and the commons to impotence, the Hundred 
During the reign of Louis XI (1461-1483 a.d.) ®^^' ^^ 
the royal domains were enlarged by the addition of Anjou, 
Provence, and the duchy of Burgundy. His son, Charles VIII 
(1483— 1498 A.D.), made Brittany a possession of the French 
crown. The unification of France was now almost complete. 

189. Unification of Spain (to 1492 A.D.) 

The Spanish peninsula, known to the Romans as Hispania, 
is sharply separated from the rest of Europe by the Pyrenees 
Mountains. At the same time the nearness of The Spanish 
the peninsula to Africa has always brought it into peninsula 
intimate relations with that continent. Just as Russia has 
formed a link between Asia and Europe, so Spain has served as 
a natural highway from Africa to Europe. 

The first settlers in Spain, of whom we know anything, were 
the Iberians. They may have emigrated from northern Africa. 
After them came the Celts, who overran a large The Spanish 
part of the peninsula and appear to have mingled People 
with the Iberians, thus forming the mixed people known as 
Celtiberians. In historic times Spain was conquered by the 
Carthaginians, who left few traces of their occupation, by 
the Romans, who thoroughly Romanized the country, by 
the Visigoths, who founded a Germanic kingdom, and lastly 
by the Moors, who introduced Arabian culture and the faith 
of Islam. ^ These invaders were not numerous enough greatly 
to affect the population, in which the Celtiberian strain is still 
predominant. 

The Moors never wholly conquered a fringe of mountain 
territory in the extreme north of Spain. Here a number of 

1 See pages 164, 169, 244, 378. The Arabs and Berbers who settled in Spain 
are generally called Moors. 



520 Europe during the Later Middle Ages 

small Christian states, including Leon, Castile, Navarre, and 
Christian Aragon, came into being. In the west there also 
states of arose the Christian state of Portugal. Geographi- 

^^^ cally, Portugal belongs to Spain, from which it is 

separated only by artificial frontiers, but the country has 
usually managed to maintain its independence. 

Acting sometimes singly and sometimes in concert, the 
Christian states fought steadily to enlarge their boundaries at 
Recovery of ^^^ expense of their Moslem neighbors. The 
Spain from contest had the nature of a crusade, for it was 

e oors blessed by the pope and supported by the chivalry 
of Europe. Periods of victory alternated with periods of defeat, 
but by the close of the thirteenth century Mohammedan Spain 
had been reduced to the kingdom of Granada at the southern 
extremity of the peninsula. 

The long struggle with the Moors made the Spanish a patri- 
otic people, keenly conscious of their national unity. The 

achievements of Christian warriors were recited 
The Cid . 1 1 ,1 1 1 • n . 1 r 

m countless ballads, and especially m the fine 

Poem of the Cid. It deals with the exploits of Rodrigo Diaz, 
better known by the title of the Cid (lord) given to him by the 
Moors. The Cid of romance was the embodiment of every 
knightly virtue; the real Cid was a bandit, who fought some- 
times for the Christians, sometimes against them, but always 
in his own interest. The Cid's evil deeds were forgotten, 
however, and after his death in 1099 a.d. he became the national 
hero of Spain. 

Meanwhile the separate Spanish kingdoms were coming 
together to form a nation. Leon and Castile in 1230 a.d. 

„ . , combined into the one kingdom of Castile, so 

Union of . 

Castile and named because its frontiers bristled with castles 

^tI^a'd against the Moors. But the most important step 
in the making of Spain was the marriage of Ferdi- 
nand of Aragon to Isabella of Castile, leading in 1479 a.d. to 
the union of these two kingdoms. About the same time the 
Castilian language began to crowd out the other Spanish 
dialects and to become the national speech. 



Unification of Spain 



521 



The new sovereigns of Spain aimed to continue the unifica- 
tion of the peninsula by the conquest of Granada. No effort 
was made by the Turks, who shortly before had conquest 
captured Constantinople, to defend this last of Granada, 
stronghold of Islam in the West. The Moors, ^^^^ ^•^• 
though thrown upon their own resources, made a gallant resist- 
ance. At least once Ferdinand wearied of the struggle^, but 




Unification of Spain during the Middle Ages 

Isabella's determination never wavered. In 1492 a.d. Granada 
surrendered, and the silver cross of the crusading army was 
raised on the highest tower of the city. Moslem rule in Spain, 
after an existence of almost eight centuries, now came to 
an end. 

Ferdinand and Isabella belong in the front rank of European 
sovereigns. Like their contemporaries, Henry VII and Louis 
XI, they labored with success to build up an abso- j^^j^ ^f 
lute monarchy. Spain had found, as England Ferdinand 
and France had found, that feudahsm spelled dis- ^ 
order, and that only a strong central government could keep 



52 2 Europe during the Later Middle Ages 

the peace, repress crime, and foster trade and commerce. Fer- 
dinand and Isabella firmly established the supremacy of the 
crown. By the end of the fifteenth century Spain had become 
a leading European power. Its importance in the councils 
of Europe was soon to be increased by the marriage of a 
daughter of Ferdinand and Isabella to the heir of the Aus- 
trian house of Hapsburg. 

190. Austria and the Swiss Confederation, 
1273-1499 A.D. 

The name Austria — in German Osterreich — means simply 
the eastern part of any kingdom. It came to be applied par- 
Rise of ticularly to the territory on the Danube east of 
Austria Bavaria, which Otto the Great had formed into 
a mark or border province for defense against the Magyars.^ 
This mark, soon to be known as Austria, gained an important 
place among German states. The frontiers were pushed down 
the Danube valley and the capital was finally located at Vienna, 
once a Roman city. Frederick Barbarossa raised Austria to 
the rank of a duchy. Rudolf of Hapsburg, w^ho became emperor 
in 1273 A.D., first brought the country into the hands of the 
Hapsburg family. ^ 

The Hapsburgs founded the powder of the present Austrian 
monarchy. At the end of the fourteenth century their do- 
G wth minions included a large part of eastern Germany,^ 

Austria reaching from beyond the Danube southward to 

mider the ^j^g Adriatic. Early in the skteenth century they 
secured Bohemia, a Slavic land thrust like a wedge 
into German territory, as well as part of the Magyar land of 
Hungary. The possession of these two kingdoms gave Austria 
its special character of a state formed by the union under one 
ruler of several wholly distinct nations. Meanwhile the right 
of election as Holy Roman Emperor became hereditary in 
the Hapsburg family. 

1 See page 316. 2 See page 462. 

* The duchies of Upper and Lower Austria, Styria, Carinthia, and Carniola, and 
the county of Tyrol. ^ 



Austria and the Swiss Confederation 



523 



Switzerland, during the earlier period of the Middle Ages, 
formed a part of the German duchy of Swabia and belonged to 
the Holy Roman Empire.^ About two-thirds of 
the population of Switzerland remain German in 
speech and feeling, though now the country includes districts 



Switzerland 




y Hapsburg Lands 1273 A.D. 

\ Territory Conquered from r-yf - ^^'t 

Bohemia 1282 AD l..." ',.^ 

Acquisitions 
1282-1526 A.D. 



Growth of the Hapsburg Possessions 

in which French or Italian are spoken. All Swiss laws are still 
proclaimed in the three languages. 

Swiss history is closely bound up with that of Austria. The 
little mountain communities of Schwyz,^ Uri, and Unterwalden, 
on the shores of beautiful Lake Lucerne, were Switzerland 
possessions of the counts of Hapsburg. In 1291 ^^ Austria 
A.D., the year when Rudolf of Hapsburg died, these three ''Forest 
Cantons" formed a confederation for resistance to their Haps- 
burg overlords. Additional cantons joined the league, which 
now entered upon a long struggle, dear to all lovers of liberty, 
against Austrian rule. Nowhere did the old methods of feudal 



1 See the map facing page 462. 

2 From Schwyz comes the name Switzerland. 



524 Europe during the Later Middle Ages 

warfare break down more conspicuously than in the battles 
gained by Swiss pikemen over the haughty knights of Austria. 
The struggle closed in 1499 a.d., when Switzerland became 
practically a free state. ^ 

Switzerland has two heroes of her war for independence. 



The Original Three ' 'Forest Cantoh 
The Ten Cantons added,1291-1513\A.D. 




The Swiss Contederation, 1291-1513 a.d. 

Wilham Tell is a wholly mythical character, for the story of a 

„,.„. skillful marksman who succeeds in striking off 

William . . 

Tell and some small object placed on a child's head is found 

^1^^ T°^ in England, Norway, Denmark, and other coun- 
tries. The Swiss have localized it in Uri. Another 
popular hero has a better claim to historical existence. It is 
said that at a critical moment in the battle of Sempach, when 
the Swiss with their short weapons failed to break the Austrian 
ranks, Arnold von Winkelried, a man of Unterwalden, came to 
the rescue. Rushing single-handed upon the enemy, he seized 
all the spears within reach and turned them into his own 
body. He thus opened a gap in the Hne, through which 
the Swiss pressed on to victory. Winkelried's deed might 

1 The independence of the country was not fonnally recognized till 1648 a.d. 



Expansion of Germany 525 

well have been performed, though the evidence for it is 
very scanty. 

Little Switzerland, lying in the heart of the Alps and sur- 
rounded by powerful neighbors, is one of the most interesting 
states in Europe. The twenty-two communities, xhe Swiss 
or cantons, which make up the Swiss Confedera- Confedera- 
tion, differ among themselves in language, religion °° 
(Roman Cathohc or Protestant), and customs, according to 
their nearness to Germany, France, or Italy. Nevertheless 
the Swiss form a patriotic and united nation. It is remarkable 
that a people whose chief bond of union w^as common hostility 
to the Austrian Hapsburgs, should have established a federal 
government so strong and enduring. 

191. Expansion of Germany 

An examination of the map shows how deficient Germany is 
in good natural boundaries. The valley of the Danube affords 
an easy road to the southeast, a road which the Linesof 
early rulers of Austria followed as far as Vienna German 
and the Hungarian frontier. Eastward along ®^p^^^°^ 
the Baltic no break occurs in the great plain stretching from 
the North Sea to the Ural Mountains. It was in this direction 
that German conquests and colonization during the Middle 
Ages laid the foundation of modern Prussia. 

The Germans, in descending upon the Roman Empire, had 
abandoned much of their former territories to the Slavs. In 
the reign of Charlemagne all the region between The German 
the Elbe and the Vistula belonged to Slavic tribes. ^^ ^he Slav 
To win it back for Germany required several centuries of hard 
fighting. The Slavs were heathen and barbarous, so that 
warfare with them seemed to be a kind of crusade. In the 
main, however, German expansion eastward was a business 
venture, due to the need for free land. It was the same need 
which in the nineteenth century carried the frontiers of the 
United States from the Alleghanies to the Pacific. 

German expansion began early in the tenth century, when 
Henry the Fowler annexed Brandenburg between the Elbe 



526 Europe during the Later Middle Ages 

and the Oder.^ Subsequently much of the territory between 
Brandenburg ^^^ Oder and the Vistula, including Pomerania 
and on the southern coast of the Baltic, came under 

omerania German control. The Slavic inhabitants were 
exterminated or reduced to slavery. Their place was taken 
by thousands of German colonists, who introduced Christianity, 
built churches and monasteries, cleared the woods, drained the 
marshes, and founded many cities destined to become centers 
of German trade and culture. 

Between the Vistula and the Niemen lay the lands of the 
Prussians, a non-Teutonic people closely related to the Slavs. 
. The Prussian language and religion have dis- 

appeared, the Prussians themselves have been 
completely absorbed by the Germans who settled in their coun- 
try, but the Prussian name is borne to-day by one of the great 
states of modern Europe. 

The conquest and conversion of the Prussians was accom- 
plished by the famous order of Teutonic Knights. It had been 
The Teutonic founded in Palestine as a military-religious order, 
^^^®^ at the time of the Third Crusade.^ The decline 

of the crusading movement left the knights with no duties to 
perform, and so they transferred their activities to the Prussian 
frontier, where there was still a chance to engage in a holy war. 
Throughout the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries the Teu- 
tonic Order flourished, until its grand master ruled over the 
entire Baltic coast from the Vistula to the gulf of Finland. The 
knights later had to relinquish much of this region to the Slavs, 
but they sowed there the seeds of civilization. Russia's Baltic 
provinces ^ are to-day the richest and most advanced in the 
empire. 

Germany at the close of the Middle Ages was not a united, 
intensely national state, such as had been established in England, 
Political France, and Spain. It had split into hundreds 

Germany ^f principalities, none large, some extremely small, 

and all practically independent of the feeble German kings.^ 

1 See page 315. s Courland, Livonia, and Esthonia. 

2 See page 473. « See pages 319, 462. 



Expansion of Germany 



527 



This weakness of the central power condemned Germany to a 
minor part in the affairs of Europe, as late as the nineteenth 
century. Yet Germany found some compensation for political 



U Germans 



I I Slavs 

I I Letts 



XX XXX 




Longitude 15f East from 



20° Greenwich 



German Expansion Eastward during the Middle Ages 



backwardness in the splendid city life which it developed 
during the later Middle Ages. The German cities, together 
with those of Italy and other European lands, now call for 
our attention. 



528 Europe during the Later Middle Ages 

studies 

I. On an outline map indicate (a) William the Conqueror's French dominions 
and {b) additional dominions of the Plantagenet kings in France. 2. Prepare a 
chart showing the leading rulers mentioned in this chapter. Arrange your material 
in parallel columns with dates, one column for England, one for France, and one for 
the other European countries. 3. Locate the following places: Crecy; Calais; 
Poitiers; Salisbury; Stirling; Edinburgh; Orleans; and Granada. 4. What 
happened in 987 a.d.? in 1066 a.d.? in 1215 a.d.? in 1295 a.d.? in 1346 a.d.? 
in 1453 A.D.? in 1485 a.d.? 5. Distinguish between a nation, a government, and 
a state. 6. Are unity of race, a common language, a common religion, and geo- 
graphical unity of themselves sufficient to make a nation? May a nation arise 
where these bonds are lacking? 7. "The thirteenth century gave Europe the 
nations as we now know them." Comment on this statement. 8. Account for 
the rise of national feeling in France, Spain, Scotland, and Switzerland. 9. "Good 
government in the Middle Ages was only another name for a public-spirited and 
powerful monarchy." Comment on this statement. 10. What advantages has 
trial by jury over the older forms of trial, such as oaths, ordeals, and the judicial 
duel? II. Explain the difference between a grand jury and a trial, or petty jury. 
12. Compare the extent of territory in which Roman law now prevails with that 
which follows the Common law. 13. Why was the Parliament of 1295 a.d. named 
the "Modgl ParUament"? 14. Why has England been called "the mother of 
parliaments"? 15. Distinguish between England and Great Britain. Between 
Great Britain and the United Kingdom. 16. What were the Roman names of 
England, Scotland, and Ireland? 17. "Islands seem dedicated by nature to free- 
dom." How does the history of Ireland illustrate this statement? 18. Trace on 
the map the main water routes in France between the Mediterranean and the 
Atlantic. 19. Show that Paris occupies an exceptionally good location for a capital 
city. 20. What French kings did most to form the French nation? 21. Why 
have queens never ruled in France? 22. Compare the Hundred Years' War and 
the Peloponnesian War as needless conflicts. 23. Compare Joan of Arc's visions 
with those of Mohammed. 24. "Beyond the Pyrenees begins Africa." What 
does this statement mean? 25. Why was Spain inconspicuous in European poli- 
tics before the opening of the sixteenth century? 26. Look up in an encyclopedia 
the story of William Tell and prepare an oral report upon it. 27. Why was the 
German system of elective rulers politically less advantageous than the settled 
hereditary succession which prevailed in England and France? 



CHAPTER XXIII 
EUROPEAN CITIES DURING THE LATER MIDDLE AGES 

192. Growth of the Cities 

Civilization has always had its home in the city.^ The state- 
ment appHes as well to medieval times as to the present day. 
Nothing marks more strongly the backwardness The civic 
of the early Middle Ages than the absence of ^^^^^^l 
large and flourishing cities throughout western Europe. The 
growth of trade in the latter Middle Ages led, however, to a civic 
revival beginning in the eleventh century. This change from 
rural to urban life was scarcely less significant for European 
history than the change from the feudal to the national state. 

A number of medieval cities stood on the sites, and even within 
the walls, of Roman municipahties. Particularly in Italy, 
southern France, and Spain, and also in the Rhine cities of 
and Danube regions, it seems that some ancient Roman 
municipia had never been entirely destroyed during °"^^ 
the Germanic invasions. They preserved their Roman names, 
their streets, aqueducts, amphitheaters, and churches, and pos- 
sibly vestiges of their Roman institutions. Among them were 
such important centers as Milan, Florence, Venice, Lyons, 
Marseilles, Paris, Vienna, Cologne, London, and York. 

Many medieval cities were new foundations. Some rose to 
importance because of advantages of situation. A place where 
a river could be forded, w^here two roads met, or origin of 
where a good harbor existed, would naturally ®*^®^ ^^^^^ 
become the resort of traders. Some, again, started as fortresses, 
behind whose ramparts the peasants took refuge when danger 
threatened. A third group of cities developed from villages on 
the manors. A thriving settlement was pretty sure to arise 

1 The word "city" comes through the French from the Latin cimlitas, meaning 
citizenship, state. The word "town" (from Anglo-Saxon tun), which is now often 
used as a synonym of city, originally meant a village (French ville, Latin inlla). 

529 



530 Cities during the Later Middle Ages 

near a monastery or castle, which offered both protection and 
employment to the common people. 

The city at first formed part of the feudal system. It grew 
upon the territory of a feudal lord and naturally ow^ed obedience 
The city and to him. The citizens ranked not much higher 
feudalism ^j-^g^j^ serfs, though they were traders and artisans 
instead of farmers. They enjoyed no political rights, for their 
lord collected the taxes, appointed ofhcials, kept order, and 
punished offenders. In short, the city was not free. 




'^5:31 



Walls of Carcassonne 



The fortifications of Carcassonne, an ancient city of southwestern France, are probably- 
unique in Europe for completeness and strength. They consist of a double line of ram- 
parts, protected by towers and pierced by only two gates. A part of the fortifications is 
attributed to the Visigoths in the sixth century; the remainder, including the castle, was 
raised during the Middle Ages (eleventh to thirteenth centuries). 

But the city from the first was the decided enemy of feudaHsm.^ 
As its inhabitants increased in number and wealth, they became 
Revolt of conscious of their strength and refused to submit 

the cities ^q oppression. Sometimes they won their freedom 

by hard fighting; more often they purchased it, perhaps from 
some noble who needed money to go on a crusade. In France, 
England, and Spain, where the royal power was strong, the 
cities obtained exemption from their feudal burdens, but did not 
become entirely self-governing. In Germany and Italy, on 
1 See page 4,37. 



City Life 531 

the other hand, the weakness of the central government 
permitted many cities to secure complete independence. They 
became true republics, like the old Greek city-states. ^ 

The contract which the citizens extorted from their lord was 
known as a charter. It specified what taxes they should be 
required to pay and usually granted to them 
various privileges, such as those of holding assem- 
bhes, electing magistrates, and raising mihtia for local defense. 
The revolt of the cities gradually extended over all western 
Europe, so that at the end of the fourteenth century hardly 
any of them lacked a charter. 

The free city had no room for either slaves or serfs. All 
servile conditions ceased inside its walls. The rule prevailed 
that anyone who had lived in a city for the term of civic 
a year and a day could no longer be claimed by a freedom 
lord as his serf. This rule found expression in the famous 
saying: ''Town air renders free." 

The freedom of the cities naturally attracted many immi- 
grants to them. There came into existence a middle class of 
city people, between the nobles and clergy on the j^^gg ^^ 
one side and the peasants on the other side — the " third 
what the French call the bourgeoisie} As we have ®^ * ® 
learned,^ the kings of England and France soon began to sum- 
mon representatives of this middle class to sit in assemblies as 
the "third estate," by the side of the nobles and the clergy, who 
formed the first two estates. Henceforth the middle class, the 
bourgeoisie, the " third estate," distinguished as it was for wealth, 
intelligence, and enterprise, exerted an ever-greater influence 
on European affairs. 

193. City Life 

The visitor approaching a medieval city through miles of 
open fields saw it clear in the sunlight, unobscured by coal 
smoke. From without it looked like a fortress, a city from 
with walls, towers, gateways, drawbridges, and without 
moat. Beyond the fortifications he would see, huddled together 

1 See page 8i. 2 From French bourg, "town." s See pages 506, 515. 



532 Cities during the Later Middle Ages 



against the sky, the spires of the churches and the cathedral, 
the roofs of the larger houses, and the dark, frowning mass of 
the castle. The general impression would be one of wealth 
and strength and beauty. 

Once within the walls the visitor w^ould not find things so 
attractive. The streets were narrow, crooked, and ill-paved, 
A city from dark during the day because of the overhanging 
within houses, and without illumination at night. There 

were no open spaces or parks except a small market place. The 




5^ 

A Scene in Rothenburg 

whole city was cramped by its walls, which shut out light, air, 
and view, and prevented expansion into the neighboring coun- 
try. Medieval London, for instance, covered an area of less 
than one square mile.^ 

A city in the Middle Ages lacked all sanitary arrangements. 
The only water supply came from polluted streams and w^ells. 
Unsanitary There were no sewers and no sidewalks. People 
conditions piled up their refuse in the backyard or flung it into 
the street, to be devoured by the dogs and pigs which served 

1 The visitor to Chester in England or Rothenburg in Germany finds the old 
ramparts still standing and gains an excellent idea of the cramped quarters of a 
medieval city. Nuremberg in southern Germany is another city which has pre- 
served its medieval monuments. 



City Life 533 

as scavengers. The holes in the pavement collected all manner 
of filth, and the unpaved lanes, in wet weather, became deep pits 
of mud. We can understand why the townspeople wore over- 
shoes when they went out, and why even the saints in the pic- 
tures were represented with them on. The living were crowded 
together in many-storied houses, airless and gloomy; the dead 
were buried close at hand in crowded churchyards. Such un- 
sanitary conditions must have been responsible for much of the 
sickness that was prevalent. The high death rate could only 
be offset by a birth rate correspondingly high, and by the 
constant influx of country people. 

Numerous petty regulations restricted the private Hfe of 
the townspeople. The municipal authorities sometimes decided 
how many guests might be invited to w^eddings, civic 
how^ much might be spent on wedding presents, regulations 
what different garments might be owned and worn by a citizen, 
and even the number of trees that might be planted in his 
garden. Each citizen had to serve his turn as watchman on 
the walls or in the streets at night. When the great bell in the 
belfry rang the "curfew,"^ at eight or nine o'clock, this was 
the signal for every one to extinguish lights and fires and go 
to bed. It was a useful precaution, since conflagrations wxre 
common enough in the densely packed wooden houses. After 
curfew the streets became deserted, except for the night 
watch making their rounds and the presence of occasional 
pedestrians carrying lanterns. The municipal government spent 
little or nothing on police protection, so that street brawls, 
and even robbery and murder, were not infrequent. 

The inhabitants of the city took a just pride in their public 
buildings. The market place, where traders assembled, often 
contained a beautiful cross and sometimes a Public 
market hall to shelter goods from the weather. ^uild"igs 
Not far away rose the city hall,^ for the transaction of 
public business and the holding of civic feasts. The hall 
might be crowned by a high belfry with an alarm bell to 

1 French couvre feu, "cover fire." 

2 In French hotel de mile; in German Rathhaus. 



534 Cities during the Later Middle Ages 

summon citizens to mass meeting. Then there would be a 
number of churches and abbeys and, if the city was the capital 
of a bishop's diocese, an imposing cathedral. 

The small size of medieval cities — few included as many as 
ten thousand inhabitants — simplified the problem of governing 
Municipal them. The leading merchants usually formed a 
government council presided over by a head magistrate, the 
burgomaster ^ or mayor,^ who was assisted by aldermen.^ In 
some places the guilds chose the officials and managed civic 
affairs. These associations had many functions and held a most 
important place in city life. 

194. Civic Industry: the Guilds 

The Anglo-Saxon word '"guild," which means "to pay," 
came to be applied to a club or society whose members made 
Formation Contributions for some common purpose. This 
of guilds fQj.j^ q£ association is very old. Some of the 

guilds in imperial Rome had been established in the age of the 
kings, while not a few of those which flourish to-day in China 
and India were founded before the Christian era. Guilds ex- 
isted in Continental Europe as early as the time of Charlemagne, 
but they did not become prominent till after the crusades. 

A guild of merchants grew up when those who bought and 
sold goods in any place united to protect their own interests. 
Merchant The membership included many artisans, as well 
s^^^ as professional traders, for in medieval times a 

man often sold in the front room of his shop the goods which he 
made in the back rooms. He was often both shopkeeper and 
workman in one. 

The chief duty of a merchant guild was to preserve to its 
own members the monopoly of trade within a town. Strangers 
Commercial and non-guildsmen could not buy or sell there 
monopoly except under the conditions imposed by the guild. 
They must pay the town tolls, confine their dealings to guilds- 

1 German hiir germeister, from burg, "castle." 

2 French maire, from Latin major, "greater." 

3 Anglo-Saxon ealdorman {eald means "old"). 



I 



Civic Industry: the Guilds 



535 



men, and as a rule sell only at wholesale. They were forbidden 
to purchase wares which the townspeople wanted for them- 
selves or to set up shops for retail trade. They enjoyed more 
freedom at fairs, which were 
intended to attract outsiders. 
After a time the traders and 
artisans engaged in a particu- 
lar occupation began to form 

an association of _ .^ .,, 

Craft guilds 
their own. Thus 

arose the craft guilds, com- 
posed of weavers, shoemakers, 
bakers, tailors, carpenters, and 
so on, until almost every form 
of industry had its separate 
organization. The names of 
the various occupations came 
to be used as the surnames of 
those engaged in them, so that 
to-day we have such com- 
mon family names as Smith, 
Cooper, Fuller, Potter, Chan- 
dler, and many others. The 
number of craft guilds in an 
important city might be very 
large. London and Paris at one time each had more than one 
hundred, and Cologne in Germany had as many as eighty. 
The members of a particular guild usually lived in the same 
street or quarter of the city, not only for companionship but 
also for better supervision of their labor.^ 

Just as the merchant guild regulated town trade, so the craft 
guilds had charge of town industry. No one could engage in 
any craft without becoming a member of the guild industrial 
which controlled it and submitting to the guild n^onopoly 
regulations. A man's hours of labor and the prices at which 

1 A map of London still shows such names as Shoe Lane, Distaff Lane, Comhill, 
and many other similar designations of streets. 




House of the Butchers' Guild, 
HiLDESHEiM, Germany 

Hildesheim, near Hanover, is perhaps the 
richest of all German towns in fine wooden- 
framed houses. The house of the Butchers' 
Guild has been recently restored, with all its 
original coloring carefully reproduced. 



536 Cities during the Later Middle Ages 

he sold his goods were fixed for him by die guild. He might 
not work elsewhere than in his shop, because of the difficulty of 
supervising him, nor might he work by artificial light, lest he 
turn out badly finished goods. Everything made by him was 
carefully inspected to see if it contained shoddy materials or 
showed poor workmanship. Failure to meet the test meant a 
heavy fine or perhaps expulsion from the guild. Thus the 
industrial monopoly possessed by the craft guild gave some 
protection to both producer and consumer. 

Full membership in a guild was reached only by degrees. A 
boy started as an apprentice, that is, a learner. He paid a 
Organization sum of money to his master and agreed to serve 
of craft guilds j^jj^ f^j- g, fixed period, usually seven years. The 
master, in turn, promised to provide the apprentice with food, 
lodging, and clothing, and to teach him all the secrets of the 
craft. At the end of the seven years the apprentice had to pass 
an examination by the guild. If he was found fit, he then 
became a journeyman and worked for daily wages. As soon 
as he had saved enough money, he might set up as a master in 
his own shop. A master was at once workman and employer, 
laborer and capitalist. 

Like the old Roman guilds, those of the Middle Ages had their 
charitable and religious aspects. Each guild raised large 
Activities benefit funds for the relief of members or their 

of craft widows and orphans. Each guild had its private 

^" ^ altar in the cathedral, or often its own chapel, 

where masses were said for the repose of the souls of deceased 
members, and where on the day of its patron saint religious 
services were held. The guild was also a social organization, 
with frequent meetings for a feast in its hall or in some inn. The 
guilds in some cities entertained the people with an annual 
play or procession.^ It is clear that the members of a medieval 
craft guild had common interests and shared a common hfe. 

As the craft guilds prospered and increased in wealth, 
they tended to become exclusive organizations. Member- 

1 The civic procession in London on Lord Mayor's Day is the last survival in 
England of these yearly shows. 



Trade and Commerce 537 

ship fees were raised so high that few could afford to pay 
them, while the number of apprentices that a Dissolution 
master might take was strictly limited. It also be- of craft 
came increasingly difficult for journeymen to rise to ^ 

the station of masters; they often remained wage-earners for 
life. The mass of workmen could no longer participate in the 
benefits of the guild system. In the eighteenth century most 
of the guilds lost their monopoly of industry, and in the 
nineteenth century they gave way to trade unions. 

195. Trade and Commerce 

Nearly every town of any consequence had a weekly or 
semiweekly market, which was held in the market place or in 

the churchyard. Marketing often occurred on 
r. , - ■ r 1 • ,., Markets 

bunday, in spite of many laws against this desecra- 
tion of the day. Outsiders who brought cattle and farm produce 
for sale in the market were required to pay tolls, either to the 
town authorities or sometimes to a neighboring nobleman. 
These market dues still survive in the ''octroi" collected at the 
gates of some European cities. 

People in the Middle Ages did not believe in unrestricted 
competition. It was thought wrong for anyone to purchase 

goods outside of the regular market (" forestalling ") 
^ , , . , . . 1 " Justprice" 

or to purchase tnem m larger quantities than nec- 
essary ("engrossing"). A man ought not to charge for a thing 
more than it was worth, or to buy a thing cheap and sell it dear. 
The idea prevailed that goods should be sold at their "just 
price," w^hich was not determined by supply and demand but 
by an estimate of the cost of the materials and the labor that 
went into their manufacture. Laws were often passed fixing 
this "just price," but it was as difficult then as now to prevent 
the "cornering of the market" by shrewd and unscrupulous 
traders. 

Besides markets at frequent intervals, many towns held fairs 
once or twice a year. The fairs often lasted for a 
month or more. They were especially necessary 
in medieval Europe, because merchants did not keep large 



538 Cities during the Later Middle Ages 

quantities or many kinds of goods on their shelves, nor could 
intending purchasers afford to travel far in search of what they 




Trade Routes between Northern and Southern Europe 
IN the 13TH AND 14TH Centuries 

wanted. The more important English fairs included those at 
Stourbridge near Cambridge, Winchester, St. Ives, and Boston. 
On the Continent fairs were numerous and in some places^ such 



Trade and Commerce 539 

as Leipzig in Germany and Nijni-Novgorod in Russia, they are 
still kept up. 

A fair gave opportunity for the sale of commodities brought 
from the most distant regions. Stourbridge Fair, for instance, 
attracted Venetians and Genoese with silk, pepper, Fairs and 
and spices of the East, Flemings with fine cloths and conimerce 
linens, Spaniards with iron and wine, Norwegians with tar 
and pitch from their forests, and Baltic merchants with furs, 
amber, and salted fish. The fairs, by fostering commerce, 
helped to make the various European peoples better 
acquainted with one another. 

Commerce in western Europe had almost disappeared as a 
result of the Germanic invasions and the establishment of feu- 
dalism. What little commercial intercourse there 
was encountered many obstacles. A merchant who commerce 
went by land from country to country might expect ^^ *^® 
to find bad roads, few bridges, and poor inns. 
Goods were transported on pack-horses instead of in wagons. 
Highway robbery was so common that travelers always carried 
arms and often united in bands for better protection. The 
feudal lords, often themselves not much more than highway- 
men, demanded tolls at every bridge and ford and on every 
road. If the merchant proceeded by water, he must face, in 
addition to the ordinary hazards of wind and wave, the danger 
from the ill-lighted coasts and from attacks by pirates. No 
wonder commerce languished in the early Middle Ages and 
for a long time lay chiefly in the hands of Byzantines ^ and 
Arabs. 2 

Even during the dark centuries that followed the end of the 
Roman Empire, some trade with the Orient had been carried 
on by the cities of Italy and southern France. The commercial 
crusades, which brought East and West face to revival after 
face, greatly increased this trade. The Mediter- ^® crusades 
ranean lands first felt the stimulating effects of intercourse with 
the Orient, but before long the commercial revival extended to 
the rest of Europe. 

1 See page 336. 2 See page 382. 



540 Cities during the Later Middle Ages 

Before the discovery of the Cape of Good Hope the spices, 
drugs, incense, carpets, tapestries, porcelains, and gems of 
Asiatic trade India, China, and the East Indies reached the 
routes West by three main routes. All had been used in 

ancient times.^ The central and most important route led up 
the Persian Gulf and Tigris River to Bagdad, from which city 
goods went by caravan to Antioch or Damascus. The southern 
route reached Cairo and Alexandria by way of the Red Sea 
and the Nile. By taking advantage of the monsoons, a mer- 
chant ship could make the voyage from India to Egypt in about 
three months. The northern route, entirely overland, led to 
ports on the Black Sea and thence to Constantinople. It trav- 
ersed high mountain passes and long stretches of desert, and 
could profitably be used only for the transport of valuable 
articles small in bulk. The conquests of the Ottoman Turks 
greatly interfered with the use of this route by Christians 
after the middle of the fifteenth century. 

Oriental goods, upon reaching the Mediterranean, could be 
transported by water to northern Europe. Every year the 
European Venetians sent a fleet loaded with eastern products 
trade routes ^q Bruges in Flanders, a city w^hich was the most 
important depot of trade with Germany, England, and Scandi- 
navia. Bruges also formed the terminus of the main overland 
route leading from Venice over the Alps and down the Rhine. 
But as the map indicates, many other commercial highways 
linked the Mediterranean with the North Sea and the Baltic. 

It is important to note that until late in the Middle Ages 
trade existed, not between nations, but between cities. A 
Commercial merchant of London was almost as much a for- 
relations eigner in any other EngHsh city as he would have 

been in Bruges, Paris, or Cologne. Consequently, each city 
needed to make commercial treaties with its neighbors, stipulat- 
ing what were the privileges and obligations of its merchants, 
wherever they went. It was not until the kings grew strong in 
western Europe that merchants could rely on the central gov- 
ernment, rather than on local authorities, for protection. 
^ See pages 47-48. 




I 



Money and Banking 541 

196. Money and Banking 

We have seen that business in the Middle Ages was chiefly of 
a retail character and was conducted in markets and fairs. 
The artisan who manufactured the goods he sold small scale 
and the peddler who carried his goods about from of business 
place to place were the leading types of medieval ®^*®^P"^® 
traders. Little wholesale business existed, and the merchant 
prince who ow^ned warehouses and large stocks of goods was an 
exceptional figure. 

One reason for the small scale of business enterprise is found 
in the inadequate supply of money. From the beginning of 
the Christian era to the twelfth century there seems Lack of 
to have been a steady decrease in the amount of ^^^^^y 
specie in circulation, partly because so much moved to the 
Orient in payment for luxuries, and partly .because the few 
mines in western Europe went out of use during the period 
of the invasions. The scarcity of money, as has been shown,^ 
helped directly to build up the feudal system, since salaries, 
wages, and rents could be paid only in personal services or in 
produce. The money supply increased during the latter part 
of the Middle Ages, but it did not become sufficient for the 
needs of business till the discovery of the New World enabled 
the Spaniards to tap the wealth of the silver mines in Mexico 
and Peru. 2 

Medieval currency was not only small in amount but also 
faulty in character. Many great nobles enjoyed the privilege 
of keeping a mint and issuing coins. Since this paults of 
feudal money passed at its full value only in the medieval 
locahty where it was minted, a merchant had to *^^^®°^y 
be constantly changing his money, as he went from one fief to 
another, and always at a loss. Kings and nobles for their 
own profit would often debase the currency by putting silver 
into the gold coins and copper into the silver coins. Every 
debasement, as it left the coins with less pure metal, lowered 
their purchasing power and so raised prices unexpectedly. Even 

I See page 417. 2 See page 640. 



542 Cities during the Later Middle Ages 

in countries like England, where debasement was exceptional, 
much counterfeit money circulated, to the constant impediment 
of trade. 

The prejudice against "usury," as any lending of money at 
interest was called, made another hindrance to business enter- 
'« Usury" prise. It seemed wrong for a person to receive 
laws interest, since he lost nothing by the loan of his 

money. Numerous Church laws condemned the receipt of 
interest as unchristian. If, however, the lender could show that 
he had suffered any loss, or had been prevented from making 
any gain, through not having his money, he might charge 
something for its use. In time people began to distinguish 
between interest moderate in amount and an excessive charge 
for the use of money. The latter alone was henceforth pro- 
hibited as usurious. Most modern states still have usury 
laws which fix the legal rate of interest. 

The business of money lending, denied to Christians, fell into 
the hands of the Jews. In nearly all European countries popu- 
The Jews ^^^ prejudice forbade the Jews to engage in agricul- 
as money ture, while the guild regulations barred them from 
lenders industry. They turned to trade and finance for 

a livelihood and became the chief capitalists of medieval times. 
But the law gave the Jews no protection, and kings and nobles 
constantly extorted large sums from them. The persecutions 
of the Jews date from the era of the crusades, when it was as 
easy to excite fanatical hatred against them as against the 
Moslems. Edward I drove the Jews from England and 
Ferdinand and Isabella expelled them from Spain. They are 
still excluded from the Spanish peninsula, and in Russia and 
Austria they are not granted all the privileges which Chris- 
tians enjoy. 

The Jews were least persecuted in the commercial cities of 
northern Italy. Florence, Genoa, and Venice in the thirteenth 
Italian century were the money centers of Europe. The 

banking banking companies in these cities received deposits 

and then loaned the money to foreign governments and great 
nobles. It was the Florentine bankers, for instance, who 



Italian Cities 543 

provided the English king, Edward III, with the funds to 
carry on his wars against France. The ItaHan banking houses 
had branches in the principal cities of Europe.^ It became 
possible, therefore, to introduce the use of bills of exchange 
as a means of balancing debts between countries, without 
the necessity of sending the actual money. This system of 
international credit was doubly important at a time when 
so many risks attended the transportation of the precious 
metals. Another Florentine invention was bookkeeping by 
double-entry. 2 

197. Italian Cities 

The cities of northern Italy ow^ed their prosperity, as we have 
learned, to the commerce wdth the Orient. It was this which 
gave them the means and the strength to keep up The city 
a long struggle for freedom against the German republics 
emperors.^ The end of the struggle, at the middle of the thir- 
teenth century, saw all North Italy divided into the dominions 
of various independent cities. Among them wxre Milan, 
Pisa, Florence, Genoa, and Venice. 

Milan, a city of Roman origin, lay in the fertile valley of the 
Po, at a point w^here the trade routes through several Alpine 
passes converged. Milan early rose to importance, 
and it still remains the commercial metropolis of 
Italy. Manufacturing also flourished there. Milanese armor 
was once celebrated throughout Europe. The city is rich in 
works of art, the best known being the cathedral, which, after 
St. Peter's at Rome and the cathedral of Seville, is the largest 
church in Europe. Though the Milanese were able to throw 
off the imperial authority, their government fell into the hands 
of the local nobles, who ruled as despots. Almost all the 
Italian cities, except Venice, lost their freedom in this manner. 

!• Lombard Street in London, the financial center of England, received its name 
from the ItaUan bankers who established themselves in this part of the city. 

2 Among the ItaHan words having to do with commerce and banking which 
have come into general use are conto, disconto, risico, nelto, deposito, folio, and 
bilanza. 

3 See page 460. 



544 Cities during the Later Middle Ages 



Pisa, like Milan, was an old Roman city which profited by the 
disorders of the barbarian invasions to assert its independence. 
The situation of Pisa on the Arno River, seven 
miles from the sea, made it a maritime state, and 
the Pisan navy gained distinction in warfare against the Mos- 
lems in the Mediterranean. The Pisans joined in the First 



Pisa 




Baptistery, Cathedral, and "Leaning Tower" of Pisa 

These three buildings in the piazza of Pisa form one of the most interesting architectural 
groups in Italy. The baptistery, completed in 1278 a.d., is a circular structure, 100 feet 
in diameter and covered with a high dome. The cathedral was consecrated in 11 18 a.d. 
The finest part of the building is the west front with its four open arcades. The campanile, 
or bell tower, reaches a height of 179 feet. Owing to the sinking of the foundations, it leans 
from the perpendicular to a striking extent (now about 16^ feet). 

Crusade and showed their valor at the capture of Jerusalem. 
They profited greatly by the crusading movement and soon pos- 
sessed banks, warehouses, and trading privileges in every eastern 
port. But Pisa had bitter rivals in Florence and Genoa, and 
the conflicts with these two cities finally brought about the 
destruction of its power. 

Florence, Pisa's neighbor on the Arno, was renowned for 

manufactures. The fine wool, silk cloths, golden brocades, 

_ jewelry, and metal work of Florence were imported 

into all European countries. The craft guilds 

were very strong there, and even the neighboring nobles, who 



1 



Italian Cities 545 

wished to become citizens, had first to enroll themselves in some 
guild. It was from banking, however, that Florence gained 
most wealth. In the fifteenth century the city contained 
eighty great banking houses, in addition to numerous branches 
outside of Italy. With their commercial spirit the Florentines 
combined a remarkable taste for art and hterature. Their 
city, whose population never exceeded seventy thousand, gave 
birth to some of the most illustrious poets, prose writers, archi- 
tects, sculptors, and painters of medieval times. It was the 
Athens of Italy. ^ 

Genoa, located on the gulf of the same name, possessed a safe 
and spacious harbor. During the era of the crusades the city 
carried on a flourishing trade in both the Mediter- 
ranean and the Atlantic. After the fall of the 
Latin Empire of Constantinople ^ the Genoese almost monopo- 
lized Oriental commerce along the Black Sea route. The 
closing of this route by the Ottoman Turks was a heavy blow 
to their prosperity, which also suffered from the active com- 
petition of Venice. 

Almost alone among ItaUan cities Venice was not of Roman 
origin. Its beginning is traced back to the period of barbarian 
inroads, when fugitives from the mainland sought situation of 
a new home on the islands at the head of the Venice 
Adriatic.^ These islands, which He about five miles from the 
coast, are protected from the outer sea by a long sand bar. They 
are little more than mud-banks, barely rising above the shallow 
water of the lagoons. The oozy soil afforded no support for 
buildings, except when strengthened by piles; there was scarcely 
any land fit for farming or cattle-raising; and the only drinking 
water had to be stored from the rainfall. Yet on this unpromis- 
ing site arose one of the most splendid of European cities. 

The early inhabitants of Venice got their hving from the sale 
of sea salt and fish, two commodities for which a constant 
demand existed in the Middle Ages. Large quan- Venetian 
titles of salt were needed for preserving meat in commerce 
the winter months, while fish was eaten by all Christians on 

1 See page 590. ^ See page 478. ^ gee page 248. 



546 Cities during the Later Middle Ages 

the numerous fast days and in Lent. The Venetians exchanged 
these commodities for the productions of the mainland and so 
buih up a thriving trade. From fishermen they became mer- 
chants, with commercial relations which gradually extended 




Venice and the Grand Canal 



to the Orient. The crusades vastly increased the wealth of 
Venice, for she provided the ships in which troops and supplies 
went to the Holy Land and she secured the largest share of the 
new eastern trade. Venice became the great emporium of 
the Mediterranean. As a commercial center the city was the 
successor of ancient Tyre, Carthage, Athens, and Alexandria. 

Venice also used the crusading movement for her political 
advantage. The capture of Constantinople in the Fourth 
Venetian Crusade extended Venetian control over the Pelo- 

possessions ponnesus,^ Crete, Rhodes, Cyprus, and many 
smaller islands in the eastern Mediterranean. Even before 
this time Venice had begun to gain possessions upon the 
Italian mainland and along the Adriatic coast. At the 

i Known in the Middle Ages as the Morea. 



German Cities 547 

height of her power about 1400 a.d. she ruled a real 
empire.^ 

The commerce and possessions of Venice made it necessary 
for her to maintain a powerful fleet. She is said to have had 
at one time over three thousand merchant vessels, Venetian 
besides forty-five war galleys. Her ships went sea power 
out in squadrons, with men-of-war acting as a convoy against 
pirates. One fleet traded with the ports of western Europe, 
another proceeded to the Black Sea, while others visited Syria 
and Egypt to meet the caravans from the Far East. Venetian 
sea powxr humbled Genoa and for a long time held the Mediter- 
ranean against the Ottoman Turks. 

The greatness of Venice was celebrated by the annual cercr 
mony of ''the wedding of the sea." The doge,^ or The " Queen 
chief magistrate, standing in the bows of the state of the 
barge, cast a ring of gold into the Adriatic with 
the proud words, "We have wedded thee, O sea, in token of 
our rightful and perpetual dominion." 

The visitor to modern Venice can still gain a good impression 
of what the city must have looked like in the fourteenth century, 
when ships of every nation crowded its quays and Venice 
strangers of every country thronged its squares or described 
sped in light gondolas over the canals which take the place of 
streets. The main highway is still the Grand Canal, nearly two 
miles long and lined with palaces and churches. The Grand 
Canal leads to St. Mark's Cathedral, brilliant with mosaic pic- 
tures, the Campanile, or bell tower, and the Doge's Palace. The 
''Bridge of Sighs" connects the ducal palace with the state 
prisons. The Rialto in the business heart of Venice is another 
famous bridge. But these are only a few of the historic and 
beautiful buildings of the island city. 

198. German Cities: the Hanseatic League 

The important trade routes from Venice and Genoa through 
the Alpine passes into the valleys of the Rhine and Danube were 

1 For the Venetian possessions in 1453 a.d. see the map, page 494. 

2 That is, "duke." 



548 Cities during the Later Middle Ages 

responsible for the prosperity of many fine cities in southern 

and central Germany. Among them were Augs- 

southem and burg, which rivaled Florence as a financial center, 

central Nuremberg, famous for artistic metal work, Ulm, 

Germany °' ' 

j Strassburg, and Cologne. The feeble rule of the 

German kings compelled the cities to form several confederacies 

for the purpose of resisting the extortionate tolls and downright 

robberies of feudal lords. 

It was the Baltic commerce which brought the cities of 

northern Germany into a firm union. From the Baltic region 

came large quantities of dried and salted fish, espe- 

Cities of cially herriner, wax candles for church services, 

northern , • „ , , , ^ i . 

Germany skms, tallow, and lumber. Furs were also m 

great demand. Every one wore them during the 

winter, on account of the poorly heated houses. The German 

cities which shared in this commerce early formed the celebrated 

Hanseatic ^ League for protection against pirates and feudal 

lords. 

The league seems to have begun with an alliance of Hamburg 

„ , , . and Liibeck to safeguard the traffic on the Elbe. 

Membership 

of the The growth of the league was rapid. At the 

Hanseatic period of its greatest power, about 1400 a.d., 

there were upwards of eighty Hanseatic cities 

along the Baltic coast and in the inland districts of northern 

Germany. 

The commercial importance of the league extended far beyond 
the borders of Germany. Its trading posts, or ''factories," 
Hanseatic at Bergen in Norway and Novgorod in Russia con- 
** factories" trolled the export trade of those two countries. 
Similar establishments existed at London, on the Thames 
just above London Bridge, and at Bruges in Flanders. Each 
factory served as a fortress where merchants could be safe 
from attack, as a storehouse for goods, and as a general 
market. 

The Hanseatic League ruled over the Baltic Sea very much 
as Venice ruled over the Adriatic. In spite of its monopolistic 

1 From the old German hansa, a "confederacy." 



The Cities of Flanders 549 

tendencies, so opposed to the spirit of free intercourse between 
nations, the league did much useful work by sup- 
pressing piracy and by encouraging the art of navi- of the 

eration. Modern Germans look back to it as proof Hanseatic 
1 1 . 1 ^ League 

that their country can play a great part on the 

seas. (The Hanseatic merchants were also pioneers in the haK- 
barbarous lands of northern and eastern Europe, where they 
founded towns, fostered industry, and introduced comforts 
and luxuries previously unknown. Such services in advanc- 
ing civilization were comparable to those performed by the 
Teutonic Knights.^ 

After several centuries of usefulness the league lost its mon- 
opoly of the Baltic trade and began to decline. Moreover 

the Baltic, like the Mediterranean, sank to minor ^ ,. 

• ^ r 1 ^ Decline 

importance as a commercial center, after the Por- of the 

tuffuese had discovered the sea route to India and Hanseatic 

League 
the Spaniards had opened up the New World. ^ 

City after city gradually withdrew from the league, till only 

Hamburg, Lubeck, and Bremen remained. They are still 

called free and independent cities, though now they form a 

part of the German Empire. 



199. , The Cities of Flanders 

In the Middle Ages the Netherlands, or " Low Countries," 
now divided between Holland and Belgium, consisted of a num- 
ber of feudal states, nominally under the control County of 
of German and French kings, but really quite Glanders 
independent. Among them was the county of Flanders. It 
included the coast region from Calais to the mouth of the 
Scheldt, as well as a considerable district in what is now north- 
western France. The inhabitants of Flanders were partly of 
Teutonic extraction (the Flemings) and partly akin to the 
French (the Walloons). 

Flanders enjoyed a good situation for commerce. The coun- 
try formed a convenient stopping place for merchants who went 

1 See page 526. 2 See page 640. 



550 Cities during the Later Middle Ages 



Flanders as a 
commercial 
and industrial 
center 



by sea between the Mediterranean and the Baltic, while im- 
portant land routes led thither from all parts 
of western Europe. Flanders was also an in- 
dustrial center. Its middle classes early discov- 
ered the fact that by devotion to manufacturing 
even a small and sterile region may become rich and populous. 

The leading indus- 
jj.J . try of Flanders was 

Flemish weaving, 

wool trade England 

in the Middle Ages 
raised great flocks of 
sheep, but lacking 
skilled workmen to 
manufacture the wool 
into fine cloth, sent it 
across the Channel to 
Flanders. A medieval 
writer declared that 
the whole world was 
clothed in English 
wool manufactured 
by the Flemings. The 
taxes that were laid 
on the export of wool 
helped to pay the 
expenses of English 
kings in their wars 




Belfry of Bruges 

Bruges, the capital of West Flanders, contains many 
fine monuments of the Middle Ages. Among these is the '.i .i att i t. i.T- 

K If u- u • • .u , (,u f A f.i. 1 . With the Welsh, the 

belfry, which rises in the center of the fagade of the market ' 

hall. It dates from the end of the thirteenth century. 
Its height is 352 feet. The belfry consists of three stories 
the two lower ones square, and the upper one, octagonal 



Scotch, and the Irish. 
The wool trade also 
made Flanders the 

ally of England in the Hundred Years' War, thus beginning 

that historic friendship between the two countries which still 

endures. 

Among the thriving communities of Flanders three held an 

exceptional position. Bruges was the mart where the trade of 



The Cities of Flanders 



SSI 







Town Hall of Louvain, Belgium 

One of the richest and most ornate examples of Gothic architecture. 
Erected in the fifteenth century. The building consists of three stories, above 
which rises the lofty roof crowned with graceful towers. The interior 
decorations and arrangements are commonplace. 



southern Europe, in the hands of the Venetians, and the trade 
of northern Europe, in the hands of the Hanseatic merchants, 
came together. Ghent, with forty thousand work- Bruges, 
shops, and Ypres, which counted two hundred Ghent, and 
thousand workmen within its walls and suburbs, ^^^^ 
were scarcely less prosperous. When these cities declined in 



552 Cities during the Later Middle Ages 

wealth, Antwerp became the commercial metropohs of the 
Netherlands. 

During the fourteenth century Flanders was annexed by 
France. The Flemish cities resisted bravely, and on more than 
Flanders one occasion their citizen levies, who could handle 

and France ^]^g sword and ax, as well as the loom, defeated the 
French armies, thus demonstrating again that foot soldiers were 
a match for mailed cavalry. Had the cities been able to form 
a lasting league, they might have established an independent 
Flanders, but the bitter rivalry of Ghent and Bruges led to for- 
eign domination, lasting into the nineteenth century.^ 

The great cities of Flanders, Germany, and Italy, not to 
speak of those in France, Spain, and England, were much 
The cities rnore than centers of trade, industry, and finance. 
and Within their walls learning and art flourished to 

on ^^ extent which had never been possible in earlier 
times, when rural life prevailed throughout western Europe. 
We shall now see what the cities of the Middle Ages con- 
tributed to civilization. 

Studies 

I. Indicate on the map some great commercial cities of the Middle Ages as 
follows: four in Italy; three in the Netherlands; and six in Germany. 2. Why 
does an American city have a charter? Where is it obtained? What privileges 
does it confer? 3. Who comprised the "third estate" in the Middle Ages? What 
class corresponds to it at the present time? 4. Why has the medieval city been 
called the "birthplace of modern democracy"? 5. Compare the merchant guild 
with the modern chamber of commerce, and craft guilds with modern trade unions. 

6, Look up the origin of the words "apprentice," "journeyman," and "master." 

7. Why was there no antagonism between labor and capital under the guild sys- 
tem? 8. Compare the medieval abhorrence of "engrossing" with the modern 
idea that "combinations in restraint of trade" are wrong. 9. Why were fairs a 
necessity in the Middle Ages? Why are they not so useful now? Where are they 
still found? ID. Compare a medieval fair with a modern exposition. 11. What 
would be the efifect on trade within an American state if toUs were levied on the 
border of every county? 12. What is meant by a "robber baron"? 13. How did 
the names "damask" linen, "chinaware, " "japanned" ware, and "cashmere" 
shawls originate? 14. Why was the purchasing power of money much greater in 
the Middle Ages than it is now? 15. Why are modern coins always made perfectly 
rovmd and with "milled" edges? 16. Are modern coins "debased" to any consid- 

1 In 1 83 1 A.D. the two provinces of East Flanders and West Flanders became 
part of the modern kingdom of Belgium. 



The Cities of Flanders 553 

erable extent? What is the use of alloys? 17. Why was the money-changer so 
necessary a figure in medieval business? 18. How is it easy to evade laws for- 
bidding usury? 19. Look up in an encyclopedia the legend of the "Wandering 
Jew." How does it illustrate the medieval attitude toward Jews? 20. Write 
out the English equivalents of the Italian words mentioned in the second footnote 
on page 543. 21. Compare the Italian despots with the Greek tyrants. 22. Show 
that Venice in medieval times was the seaport nearest the heart of commercial 
Europe. 23. Compare the Venetian and Athenian sea-empires in respect to (a) 
extent, (b) duration, and (c) commercial policy. 24. Why was Venice called the 
"bride of the sea"? 



CHAPTER XXIV 
MEDIEVAL CIVILIZATION! 

200. Formation of National Languages 

The twelfth and thirteenth centuries, which in western 
Europe saw the rise of national states out of the chaos of 
The 12th feudalism and the development of cities, may 

and 13th be regarded as the central period of the Middle 

centimes Ages. During this time*- there flourished a civih- 

zation which is properly described as "medieval," to distinguish 
it from classical civilization on the one side and modern civ- 
ilization on the other side. The various European languages 
then began to assume something like their present form. A 
large body of hterature, in both poetry and prose, appeared. 
Architecture revived, and flowered in majestic cathedrals. Edu- 
cation also revived, especially in the universities with their 
thousands of students. These and other aspects of medieval 
life will now engage our attention. 

Throughout the Middle Ages Latin continued to be an inter- 
national language. The Roman Church used it for papal bulls 

, . and other documents. Prayers were recited, 

Latin as . 

an inter- hymns were sung, and sometimes sermons were 

national preached in Latin. It was also the language of 

language , . 

men of culture everywhere in western Christendom. 

University professors lectured in Latin, students spoke Latin, 

lawyers addressed judges in Latin, and the merchants in different 

countries wrote Latin letters to one another. All learned books 

were composed in Latin until the close of the sixteenth century. 

This practice has not yet been entirely abandoned by European. 

scholars. 

1 Webster, Readings in Medieval and Modern History, chapter xvii, "Medieval 
Tales"; chapter xviii, "Three Medieval Epics." 

554 



Formation of National Languages 555 

Each European country during the Middle Ages had also 
its own national tongue. The so-called Romance lan- 
guages/ including modern French, Italian, Spanish, The Romance 
Portuguese, and Rumanian, were derived from languages 
the Latin spoken by the Romanized inhabitants of the lands 
now known as France, Italy, Spain, Portugal, and Rumania. 
Their colloquial Latin naturally lacked the elegance of the 
literary Latin used by Caesar, Cicero, Vergil, and other classi- 
cal authors. The difference between the written and spoken 
forms of the language became more marked from the fifth 
century onward, in consequence of the barbarian invasions, 
which brought about the decline of learning. Gradually in each 
country new and vigorous tongues arose, related to, yet dif- 
ferent from, the old classical Latin in pronunciation, grammar, 
and vocabulary. 

The indebtedness of the Romance languages to Latin is well 
illustrated by the case of French. It contains less than a thou- 
sand words introduced by the German invaders of „ 

•^ French 

Gaul. Even fewer in number are the words of 

Celtic origin. Nearly all the rest are derived from Latin. 

The popular Latin of the Gallo-Romans gave rise to two quite 
independent languages in medieval France. The first was used 
in the southern part of the country; it was called Development 
Provencal (from Provence). The second was of French 
spoken in the north, particularly in the region about Paris. The 
unification of the French kingdom under Hugh Capet and his 
successors gradually extended the speech of northern France 
over the entire country. Even to-day, however, one may hear 
in the south of France the soft and harmonious Provencal. 

The barbarians who poured from the wilds of central Europe 
into the Roman world brought their languages with them. But 
the speech of the Goths, Vandals, Burgundians, The Teutonic 
and Lombards disappeared, while that of the languages 
Franks in Gaul, after their conversion to Christianity, gradu- 
ally gave way to the popular Latin of their subjects. The 
Teutonic peoples who remained outside what had been the 

1 See pages 208, 322. 



556 Medieval Civilization 

limits of the Roman world continued to use their native tongues 
during the Middle Ages. From them have come modern Ger- 
man, Dutch, Flemish,^ and the various Scandinavian languages 
(Danish, Norwegian, Swedish, and Icelandic 2). In their earliest 
known forms all these languages show unmistakeable traces of 
a common origin. 

Britain was the only Roman province in the west of Europe 
where a Teutonic language took root and maintained itself. 

. , „ Here the rough, guttural speech of the Anglo-Saxons 

Anglo-Saxon , , V , , ^ . , 

so completely drove out the popular Latm that 

only six words were left behind by the Romans, when they 

abandoned the island early in the fifth century. More Celtic 

words remained, words like cradle, crock, mop, and pillow, which 

were names of household objects, and the names of rivers, 

mountains, and lakes, which were not easily changed by the 

invaders.^ But with such slight exceptions Anglo-Saxon was 

thoroughly Teutonic in vocabulary, as well as in grammar. 

In course of time Anglo-Saxon underwent various changes. 
Christian missionaries, from the seventh century onward, 
Changes in introduced many new Latin terms for church 
Anglo-Saxon offices, services, and observances. The Danes, 
besides contributing some place-names, gave us that most 
useful word are, and also the habit of using to before an infinitive. 
The coming of the Normans deeply affected Anglo-Saxon. 
Norman-French influence helped to make the language simpler^ 
by ridding it of the cumbersome declensions and conjugations 
which it had in common with all Teutonic tongues. Many new 
Norman-French w^ords also crept in, as the hostility of the 
English people toward their conquerors disappeared. 

By the middle of the thirteenth century Anglo-Saxon, or 
English, as it may now be called, had taken on a somewhat 
familiar appearance, as in these opening words of the Lord's 

1 The language spoken by the natives of Flanders. The country is now divided 
between France, Belgium, and Holland. See page 549. 

2 Icelandic is the oldest and purest form of Scandinavian. Danish and Nor- 
wegian are practically the same, in fact, their literary or book-language is one. 

^ Two names for rivers — Avon and Ex — which in one form or another are 
found in every part of England, are Celtic words meaning "water." 



Formation of National Languages 



557 



Prayer: "Fadir ur, that es in heven, Halud thi nam to nevene, 
Thou do as thi rich rike, Thi will on erd be wrought, Development 
eek as it is wrought in heven ay." In the poems °^ English 
of Geoffrey Chaucer (about 1340-1400 a.d.), especially in his 
Canterbury Tales, Eng- 
lish wears quite a mod- 
ern aspect, though the 
reader is often troubled 
by the old spelling and 
by certain words not 
now in use. The 
changes in the gram- 
mar of English have 
been so extremely small 
since 1485 a.d. — the 
beginning of the reign 
of Henry VII 1 — that 
any Englishman of or- 
dinary education can 
read without difficulty 
a book written more 
than four hundred 
years ago. 

What in medieval 
times was the speech 
of a few millions of 
Enghshmen on a single small island is now spoken by at least 
one hundred and fifty millions of people all over EngUgh 
the world. English is well fitted for the role of a as a world- 
universal language, because of its absence of ^^^^^e 
inflections and its simple sentence-order. The great number of 
one-syllabled words in the language also makes for ease in 
understanding it. Furthermore, Enghsh has been, and still is, 
extremely hospitable to new words, so that its vocabulary has 
grown very fast by the adoption of terms from Latin, French, 
and other languages. These have immensely increased the 

1 See page 518. 




Geoffrey Chaucer 

From an old manuscript in the British Museum, 
London. The only existing portrait of Chaucer. 



558 Medieval Civilization 

expressiveness of English, while giving it a position midway 
between the very different Romance and Teutonic languages. 

201. Development of National Literatures 

Medieval literature, though inferior in quahty to that of 
Greece and Rome, nevertheless includes many notable produc- 
tions. In the twelfth and the thirteenth centuries 
Latin hymns ^ . _ i 1 1 • r • rr^^ 

Latm hymns reached their perfection. The sub- 
lime Dies IrcB ("Day of Wrath") presents a picture of the final 
judgment of the wicked. The pathetic Stabat Mater, which 
describes the sorrows of Mary at the foot of the Cross, has been 
often translated and set to music. These two works were writ- 
ten by a companion and biographer of St. Francis of Assisi. 
St. Bernard's Jesu Dulcis Memoria ("Jesus, the Very Thought 
of Thee") forms part of a beautiful hymn nearly two hun- 
dred lines in length. Part of another hymn, composed by 
a monk of Cluny, has been rendered into English as '' Jeru- 
salem the Golden." Latin hymns made use of rhyme, then 
something of a novelty, and thus helped to popularize this 
poetic device. 

Very unlike the hymns in character were the Latin songs com- 
posed by students who went from one university to another in 
Latin search of knowledge and adventure. Far from 

students' home, careless and pleasure-seeking, light of purse 
^°"^^ and light of heart, the wandering scholars of the 

Middle Ages frequented taverns, as well as lecture rooms, and 
knew the wine-bowl even better than books. Their songs of 
love, of dancing, drinking, and gaming, reflect the jovial side 
of medieval life. 

Still another glimpse of gay society is afforded by the songs 
of the troubadours. These professional poets flourished in the 
Songs of the south of France, but many of them traveled from 
troubadours court to court in other countries. Their verses, 
composed in the Provencal language, were always sung to the 
accompaniment of some musical instrument, generally the lute. 
Romantic love and deeds of chivalry were the two themes which 
most inspired the troubadours. They, too, took up the use of 




ex. 



"^ 



k ^ 






II^LUMINATED MANUSCRIPT 

MannaoTn'nf nf nhniippr in 'Rritish MllSGUlTl 



Development of National Literatures 559 



The Charle- 
magne 
legend 



rhyme, using it so skilfully as to become the teachers of Europe 
in lyric poetry. 

If southern France was the native home of the lyric, north- 
ern France gave birth to epic or narrative verse. Here arose 
many poems, describing the exploits of mythical The French 
heroes or historic kings. For a long time the poems ®p^^ 
remained unwritten and were recited by minstrels, who did 
not hesitate to modify and enlarge them at will. It was not 
until late in the eleventh century that any epics were written 
down. They enjoyed high esteem in aristocratic circles and 
penetrated all countries where feudalism prevailed. 

Many of the French epics centered about the commanding 
personality of Charlemagne. After his death he became a 
figure of legend. 
He was said to 
have reigned one 
hundred and twenty-five years, 
to have made a pilgrimage to 
Jerusalem, and to have risen 
from the dead to lead the First 
Crusade. Angels inspired his 
actions. His sword contained 
the point of the lance which 
pierced the Savior's side. His 
standard was the banner of 
St. Peter. Though history 
shows that Charlemagne had 
little contact with the Moslems, 
in the popular mind he stood 
forth as the great champion of Christianity against Islam. 

The oldest, and at the same time the finest, epic connected 
with Charlemagne is the Song of Roland} The poem centers 
around Roland, one of the twelve peers of France, song of 
When leading the rearguard of Charlemagne's army ^o^^^ 
out of Spain, Roland is suddenly attacked by the treacherous 
Moors. He slays the enemy in heaps with his good sword, Du- 

i See page 309, note i. 




Roland at Roncesvalles 

From a thirteenth-century wmdow of 
stained glass in Chartres Cathedral. At the 
right Roland sounding his horn; at the left 
Roland endeavoring to break his sword 
Durendal. 



560 Medieval Civilization 

rendal, and only after nearly all the Franks have perished sounds 
his magic horn to summon aid. Charlemagne, fifteen leagues 
distant, hears its notes and returns quickly. But before help 
arrives, Roland has fallen. He dies on the field of battle, 
with his face to the foe, and a prayer on his lips that "sweet 
France" may never be dishonored. This stirring poem ap- 
pealed strongly to the martial Normans. A medieval chroni- 
cler relates that just before the battle of Hastings a Norman 
minstrel rode out between the lines, tossing his sword in air and 
catching it again, as he chanted the song "of Roland and of 
Charlemagne, of Oliver and many a brave vassal who lost his 
life at Roncesvalles." 

King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table were also 
important figures in medieval legend. Arthur was said to have 
-Pjjg reigned in Britain early in the sixth century and to 

Arthurian have fought against the Anglo-Saxons. Whether 
romances ^^ ^^^^ ^.^^^ ^^ ^^^ ^^ ^^ ^^^ know. In the Arthu- 
rian romances this Celtic king stands forth as the model knight, 
the ideal of noble chivalry. The Norman conquerors of England 
carried the romances to France, and here, where feudalism was 
so deeply rooted, they found a hearty welcome. Sir Thomas 
Malory's Morte d' Arthur, one of the first books to be printed in 
England, contains many of the narratives from which Tennyson, 
in his Idylls of the King, and other modern poets have drawn 
their inspiration. 

The greatest epic composed in Germany during the Middle 
Ages is the Nibelungenlied. The poem begins in Burgundy, 
TheNibe- where three kings hold court at Worms, on the 
lungenUed Rhine. Thither comes the hero, Siegfried, ruler of 
the Netherlands. He had slain the mysterious Nibelungs and 
seized their treasure, together with the magic cloud-cloak Avhich 
rendered its wearer invisible to human eyes. He had also killed 
a dragon and by bathing in its blood had become invulnerable, 
except in one place where a linden leaf touched his body. 
Siegfried marries Kriemhild, a beautiful Burgundian princess, 
and with her lives most happily. But a curse attached to the 
Nibelung treasure, and Siegfried's enemy, the "grim Hagen," 



Development of National Literatures 561 

treacherously slays him by a spear thrust in the one spot where 
he could be hurt. Many years afterwards Kriemhild marries 
Attila, king of the Huns, on condition that he help her to ven- 
geance. Hagen and his Burgundians are invited to Hunland, 
where Kriemhild causes them all to be put to death. The name 
of the poet who compiled and probably WTote much of the 
Nihelungenlied remains unknown, but his work has a place 
among the classics of German hterature. 

No account of medieval literature ought to omit a reference 
to Reynard the Fox. This is a long poem, first written in Latin, 
and then turned into the chief languages of Europe. Reynard 
The characters are animals: Reynard, cunning and *^® ^°* 
audacious, who outwits all his foes; Chanticleer the cock; 
Bruin the Bear; Isengrim the Wolf; and many others. But 
they are animals in name only. We see them worship like 
Christians, go to Mass, ride on horseback, debate in councils, 
and amuse themselves with hawking and hunting. Satire often 
creeps in, as when the villainous Fox confesses his sins to the 
Badger or vows that he will go to the Holy Land on a pil- 
grimage. The special interest of this w^ork lies in the fact that 
it expressed the feelings of the common people, groaning under 
the oppression of feudal lords. 

The same democratic spirit breathes in the old English bal- 
lads of the outlaw Robin Hood. According to some accounts 
he flourished in the second half of the twelfth cen- The Robin 
tury, when Henry II and Richard the Lion- ^^o^ ballads 
hearted reigned over England. Robin Hood, with his merry 
men, leads an adventurous life in Sherwood Forest, engaging 
in feats of strength and hunting the king's tall deer. Bishops, 
sheriffs, and gamekeepers are his only enemies. For the com- 
mon people he has the greatest pity, and robs the rich to endow 
the poor. Courtesy, generosity, and love of fair play are some 
of the characteristics which made him a popular hero. If King 
Arthur was the ideal knight, Robin Hood was the ideal yeoman. 
The ballads about him were sung by country folk for hundreds 
of years. 



562 



Medieval Civilization 



202. Romanesque and Gothic Architecture; the Cathedrals 

The genius of the Middle Ages found its highest expression, 
not in books, but in buildings. For several hundred years after 
Twoarchi- ^^^ barbarian invasions architecture had made 
tectural little progress in western Europe, outside of 

^ ^ ^^ Italy, which was subject to Byzantine influence,^ 

and Spain, which was a center of Mohammedan culture.^ 

Beginning about 800 a.d. 
came a revival, and the 
adoption of an architec- 
tural style called Ro- 
manesque, because it 
went back to Roman 
principles of construc- 
tion. Romanesque 
architecture arose in 
northern Italy and 
southern France and 
gradually spread to other 
European countries. It 
was followed about iioo 
A.D. by the Gothic style 
of architecture," which 
prevailed during the 
next four centuries. 

The church of the 
early Christians seems 
The Roman- tO have 
esque church ^gg^ mod- 

-r, c " " A " -r- eled upon the Roman 

Plan of Salisbury Cathedral, England _ ^ 

basilica, with its ar- 
rangement of nave and 
aisles, its circular arched recess (apse) at one end, and its flat, 
wooden ceiling supported by columns.^ The Romanesque 
church departed from the basilican plan by the introduction of 




Note the double transepts. 



1 See page 336. 



2 See page 386. 



See pages 284, 344. 









REIMS CATHEDRAL 

The cathedral of Notre Dame at Reims in northwestern France stands on the site where 
Clovis was baptized by St. Remi. Here most of the French Kings were consecrated with holy 
oil by the archbishops of Reims. Except the west front, which was built in the fourteenth 
century, the cathedral was completed by the end of the thirteenth century. The towers, 
267 feet high, were originaUy designed to reach 394 feet. The fagade, with its three arched 
portals, exquisite rose window, and "gallery of the kings," is justly celebrated. The 
cathedral was much damaged by the bombardment to which it was subjected in 1914 a.d. 




o .s ■? 



^ ^^ 



H -S 



^ W 



Romanesque and Gothic Architecture 563 

transepts, thus giving the building the form of a Latin cross. A 
dome, which might be covered by a pointed roof, was generally- 
raised over the junction of the nave and transepts. At the 
same time the apse was enlarged so as to form the choir, a 
place reserved for the clergy. 

The Romanesque church also differed from a basilica in the 
use of vaulting to take the place of a flat ceihng. The old 
Romans had constructed their vaulted roofs and vaulting 
domes in concrete, which forms a rigid mass and and the 
rests securely upon the walls like the lid of a ^°^ ^^ 
box.^ Medieval architects, however, built in stone, which exerts 
an outward thrust and tends to force the walls apart. Conse- 
quently they found it necessary to make the walls very thick 
and to strengthen them by piers, or buttresses, on the outside 
of the edifice. It was also necessary to reduce the width of the 
vaulted spaces. The vaulting, windows, and doorways had the 
form of the round arch, that is, a semicircle, as in the ancient 
Roman monuments.^ 

Gothic architecture arose in France in the country around 
Paris, at a time when the French kingdom w^as taking the lead 
in European affairs. Later it spread to England, The Gothic 
Germany, the Netherlands, and even to southern ^*y^® 
Europe. As an old chronicler wrote, "it was as if the whole 
world had thrown off the rags of its ancient time, and had 
arrayed itself in the white robes of the churches." The term 
Gothic was apphed contemptuously to this architectural style 
by writers of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, who 
regarded everything non-classical as barbarous. They beheved 
it to be an invention of the barbarian Goths, and so they called 
it Gothic. The name has stuck, as bad names have a habit of 
doing, but nowadays every one recognizes the greatness of this 
medieval art. The most beautiful buildings of the Middle Ages 
are of Gothic architecture. 

The Gothic style formed a natural development of the 

1 See page 283. 

2 The cathedral, baptistery, and campanile of Pisa form an interesting example 
of Romanesque architecture. See the illustration, page 544. 



564 



Medieval Civilization 



Romanesque style. The architects of a Gothic church wished 

to retain the vaulted ceiling but at the same time to do away 

with thick, solid walls, which had so httle window 

vaulting and space as to leave the interior of the building dark 

the flying g^^d gloomy. They solved this problem, in the first 
buttress , 1 • 

place, by usmg a great number 01 stone ribs, 

which gathered up the weight of the ceiling and rested on pil- 
lars. Ribbed vaulting made 
possible higher ceilings, span- 
ning wider areas, than in Ro- 
manesque churches.^ In the 
second place, the pillars sup- 
porting the ribs were themselves 
connected by means of flying 
buttresses with stout piers of 
masonry outside the walls of 
the church. 2 These walls, re- 
lieved from the pressure of the 
ceiling, now became a mere 
screen to keep out the weather. 
They could be built of light 
materials and opened up with 
high, wide windows. 

Ribbed vaulting and the fly- 
ing buttress are the distinctive 
The pointed features of Gothic 
^^^ architecture. A 

third feature, noteworthy but 
not so important, is the use of 
the pointed arch. It was not 
Christian in origin, for it had 
long been known to the Arabs in the East and the Moslem con- 
querors of Sicily.^ The semicircular or round arch can be only 
half as high as it is wide, but the pointed arch may vary greatly 

1 The interior of King's College Chapel, Cambridge, shows the ribs and the 
beautiful tracery of the ceiling of a Gothic building. See the plate facing page 570. 

2 The flying buttress is well shown in the view of Canterbury Cathedral (page 
324). 3 See page 386. 




Cross Section of Amiens 
Cathedral 

A, vaulting; B, ribs; C, flying but- 
tresses; D, buttresses; E, low windows; 
F, clerestory. 



Romanesque and Gothic Architecture 565 




in its proportions. The use of this device enabled the Gothic 
builder to bridge over different widths at any required height. 
It is also lighter and more graceful than the round arch.-^ 

The labors of the Gothic architect were admirably seconded 
by those of other artists. The sculptor cut figures of men, 
animals, and Gothic 
plants in the ornament 
utmost profusion. The 
painter covered vacant 
wall spaces with brilliant 
mosaics and frescoes. The 
wood-carver made exqui- 
site choir stalls, pulpits, 
altars, and screens. Mas- 
ter workmen filled the 
stone tracery of the win- 
dows with stained glass 
unequaled in coloring by 
the finest modern work. 
Some rigorous churchmen 
like St. Bernard con- 
demned the expense of 
these magnificent cathe- 
drals, but most men found in their beauty an additional reason 
to praise God. 

The Gothic cathedral, in fact, perfectly expressed the religious 
spirit of the Middle Ages. For its erection kings and nobles 
offered costly gifts. The common people, when The cathedral 
they had no money to give, contributed their labor, as a religious 
each man doing what he could to carry upward the ^ ^® 
walls and towers and to perfect every part of God's dwelling. 
The interior of such a cathedral, with its vast nave rising in 
swelling arches to the vaulted roof, its clustered columns, its 
glowing windows, and infinite variety of ornamentation, forms 
the most awe-inspiring sanctuary ever raised by man. It is 
a prayer, a hymn, a sermon in stone. 

* For the pointed arch see the view of Mehose Abbey (page 664) . 



Gargoyles on the Cathedral of 
Notre Dame, Paris 

Strange, grotesque figures and faces of stone, used 
as ornaments of Gothic buildings and as spouts to 
carry off rain water. They represent beasts, demons, 
and other creations of medieval fancy. 



566 Medieval Civilization 

Gothic architecture, though at first confined to churches, 
came to be used for other buildings. Among the monuments of 
The secular the secular Gothic are beautiful town halls, guild 
Gothic halls, markets, and charming private houses.^ But 

the cathedral remained the best expression of the Gothic style. 

. 203. Education; the Universities 

Not less important than the Gothic cathedrals for the under- 
standing of medieval civilization were the universities. They 
Common grew out of the monastic and cathedral schools 

schools where boys were trained to become monks or priests. 

Such schools had been created or restored by Charlemagne.^ 
The teaching, which lay entirely in the hands of the clergy, was 
elementary in character. Pupils learned enough Latin grammar 
to read religious books, if not always to understand them, and 
enough music to follow the services of the Church. They also 
studied arithmetic by means of the awkward Roman notation, 
received a smattering of astronomy, and sometimes gained a 
little knowledge of such subjects as geography, law, and phi- 
losophy. Besides these monastic and cathedral schools, others 
were maintained by the guilds. Boys who had no regular school- 
ing often received instruction from the parish priest of the vil- 
lage or town. Illiteracy was common enough in medieval 
times, but the mass of the people were by no means entirely 
uneducated. 

Between 11 50 and 1500 a.d. at least eighty universities were 
estabhshed in western Europe. Some speedily became extinct, 
Rise of but there are still about fifty European institutions 

universities ^f learning which started in the Middle Ages. The 
earliest universities did not look to the state or to some princely 
benefactor for their foundation. They arose, as it were, spon- 
taneously. In the eleventh and twelfth centuries Europe felt 
the thrill of a great intellectual revival. It was stimulated by 
intercourse with the highly cultivated Arabs in Spain, Sicily, 
and the East, and with the Greek scholars of Constantinople 
during the crusades. The desire for instruction became so 

1 See the illustrations, pages 550, 551. ^ See page 310. 



Education; the Universities 567 

general that the common schools could not satisfy it. Other 
schools were then opened in the cities and to them flocked eager 
learners from every quarter. 

How easily a university might grow up about the personality 
of some eminent teacher is shown by the career of Abelard. The 
eldest son of a noble family in Brittany, Abelard peter Abelard 
would naturally have entered upon a military 1079-1142 
career, but he chose instead the life of a scholar 
and the contests of debate. When still a young man he came 
to Paris and attended the lectures given by a master of the 
cathedral school of Notre Dame. Before long he had over- 
come his instructor in discussion, thus establishing his own 
reputation. At the early age of twenty-two Abelard himself 
set up as a lecturer. Few teachers have ever attracted so large 
and so devoted a following. His lecture room under the shadow 
of the great cathedral was filled with a crowd of youths and 
men drawn from all countries. 

The fame of Abelard led to an increase of masters and students 
at Paris and so paved the way for the establishment of the uni- 
versity there, later in the twelfth century. Paris University 
soon became such a center of learning, particularly ®^ ^^^ 
in theology and philosophy, that a medieval writer referred to it 
as "the mill where the world's corn is ground, and the hearth 
where its bread is baked." The university of Paris, in the time 
of its greatest prosperity, had over five thousand students. It 
furnished the model for the English university of Oxford, as 
well as for the learned institutions of Scotland, Denmark, 
Sweden, and Germany. 

The institutions of learning in southern Europe were 
modeled, more or less, upon the university of Bologna. 
At this Italian city, in the middle of the twelfth University 
century, a celebrated teacher named Irnerius °^ Bologna 
gathered about him thousands of pupils for the study of the 
Justinian code.^ The university developed out of his law 
school. Bologna was the center from which the Roman sys- 
tem of jurisprudence made its way into France, Germany, 

1 See pages 207, 331. 



568 Medieval Civilization 

and other Continental countries. From Bologna, also, came 
the monk Gratian, who drew up the accepted text-book of 
canon law, as followed in all Church courts.^ What Roman 
law was to the Empire canon law was to the Papacy. 

The word ''university"^ meant at first simply a union or 
association. In the Middle Ages all artisans were organized in 
University guilds,^ and when masters and pupils associated 
organization themselves for teaching and study they naturally 
copied the guild form. This was the more necessary since the 
student body included so many foreigners, who found protec- 
tion against annoyances only as members of a guild. 

Like a craft guild a university consisted of masters (the 
professors), who had the right to teach, and students, both ele- 
mentary and advanced, who corresponded to ap- 
prentices and journeymen. After several years of 
study a student who had passed part of his examination became 
a ''bachelor of arts" and might teach certain elementary sub- 
jects to those beneath him. Upon the com.pletion of the full 
course — usually six years in length — the bachelor took his 
final examinations and, if he passed them, received the cov- 
eted degree of "master of arts." But as is the case to-day, 
many who attended the universities never took a degree 
at all. 

A university of the Middle Ages did not need an expensive 
collection of libraries, laboratories, and museums. Its only 
necessary equipment consisted in lecture rooms 
for the professors. Not even benches or chairs 
were required. Students often sat on the straw-strewn floors. 
The high price of manuscripts compelled professors to give all 
instruction by lectures. This method of teaching has been 
retained in modern universities, since even the printed book is a 
poor substitute for a scholar's inspiring words. 

The universities being under the protection of the Church, it 

„, , was natural that those who attended them should 

The students . 

possess some of the privileges of clergymen. Stu- 
dents were not required to pay taxes or to serve in the army. 

^ See page 444. 2 Latin universitas. 3 See page 534. 



Education; the Universities 



569 



They also enjoyed the right of trial in their own courts. This 
was an especially valuable privilege, for medieval students 
were constantly getting into trouble with the city authorities. 
The sober annals of many a university are relieved by tales of 
truly Homeric conflicts between Town and Gown. When the 
students were dissatisfied with their treatment in one place, it 




View of New College, Oxford 

New College, despite its name, is one of the oldest of the Oxford collegiate foundations. 
It was established in 1379 a.d. by William of Wykeham. The illustration shows the chapel, 
the cloisters, consecrated in 1400 a.d., and the detached tower, a tall, massive structure on 
the line of the city wall. 

was always easy for them to go to another university. Some- 
times masters and scholars made off in a body. Oxford appears 
to have owed its existence to a large migration of Enghsh stu- 
dents from Paris; Cambridge arose as the result of a migration 
from Oxford; and the German university of Leipzig sprang from 
that of Prague in Bohemia. 

The members of a university usually lived in a number of 
colleges. These seem to have been at first little more than 
lodging-houses, where poor students were cared for 
at the expense of some benefactor. In time, how- 
ever, as the colleges increased in wealth, through the gifts made 
to them, they became centers of instruction under the direction 



570 



Medieval Civilization 



of masters. At Oxford and Cambridge, where the collegiate 

system has been retained to the present time, each college has its 

separate buildings and enjoys the privilege of self-government. 

The studies in a medieval university were grouped under the 

four faculties of arts, theology, law, and 

„ , . medicine. The first-named 

Faculties . ^ ^ ^ cc 

faculty taught the seven 
liberal arts," that is, grammar, rhetoric, 
logic, arithmetic, geometry, astronomy, 
and music. They formed a legacy from 
old Roman education. Theology, law% 
and medicine then, as now, were pro- 
fessional studies, taken up after the com- 
pletion of the Arts course. Owing to the 
constant movement of students from one 
university to another, each institution 
tended to specialize in one or more sub- 
jects. Thus, Paris came to be noted for 
theology, Montpellier, Padua, and Salerno 
for medicine, and Orleans, Bologna, and 
Salamanca for law. 




Tower of Magdalen 
College, Oxford 

Magdalen (pronounced 
Maudlin) is perhaps the 
most beautiful college in 
Oxford. The bell tower 
stands on High Street, the 
principal thoroughfare of 
Oxford, and adjoins Mag- 
dalen Bridge, built across 
the Cherwell. Begun in 
1492 A.D.; completed in 
1505 A.D. From its sum- 
mit a Latin hymn is sung 
every year on the morning 
of May Day. This grace- 
ful tower has been several 
times imitated in American 
collegiate structures. 



204. Scholasticism 

Theology formed the chief subject of 
instruction in most medieval universities. 
Theological Nearly all the celebrated 
study scholars of the age were theo- 

logians. They sought to arrange the doc- 
trines of the Church in systematic and 
reasonable form, in order to answer those 
great questions concerning the nature of 
God and of the soul which have always 
occupied the human mind. For this pur- 
pose it was necessary to call in the aid of 

philosophy. The union of theology and philosophy produced 

what is known as scholasticism.^ 



1 The method of the school (Latin schola) . 




INTERIOR OF KING'S COLLEGE CHAPEL, CAMBRIDGE 

The chief architectural ornament of King's College, founded by King Henry VI, is the chapel 
in the Gothic perpendicular style. This building was begun in 1446 a.d., but was not completed 
until nearly seventy years later. The finest features of the interior are the fan-vaulting which 
extends throughout the chapel, the stained-glass windows, and the wooden organ screen. 



Scholasticism 571 

The scholastics were loyal children of the Church and did not 
presume to question her teaching in matters of religion. They 
held that faith precedes reason. ''The Christian," Abeiard and 
it was said, "ought to advance to knowledge freedom of 
through faith, not come to faith through knowl- °"^ 
edge." The brilliant Abeiard, with his keenly critical mind, 
found what he considered a flaw in this position: on many sub- 
jects the authorities themselves disagreed. To show this he 
wrote a Httle book called Sic et Non ("Yes and No"), setting 
forth the conflicting opinions of the Church Fathers on one 
hundred and fifty-eight points of theology. In such cases how 
could truth be reached unless one reasoned it out for oneself? 
"Constant questioning," he declared, "is the key to wisdom. 
. . . Through doubting we come to inquiry and through 
inquiry we perceive the truth." But this reliance on the unaided 
human reason as a means of obtaining knowledge did not meet 
with approval, and Abelard's views were condemned as unsound. 
Abeiard, indeed, was a man in advance of his age. Freedom of 
thought had to wait many centuries before its rights should be 
acknowledged. 

The philosophy on which the scholastics relied was chiefly 
that of Aristotle.^ Christian Europe read him at first in Latin 
translations from the Arabic, but versions were study of 
later made from Greek copies found in Constanti- Aristotle 
nople and elsewhere in the East. This revival of Aristotle, 
though it broadened men's minds by acquainting them with the 
ideas of the greatest of Greek thinkers, had serious drawbacks. 
It discouraged rather than favored the search for fresh truth. 
Many scholastics were satisfied to appeal to Aristotle's author- 
ity, rather than take the trouble of finding out things for them- 
selves. The story is told of a medieval student who, having 
detected spots in the sun, announced his discovery to a learned 
man. "My son," said the latter, "I have read Aristotle many 
times, and I assure you there is nothing of the kind mentioned 
by him. Be certain that the spots which you have seen are in 
your eyes and not in the sun." 

1 See pages 275 and 383. 



572 Medieval Civilization 

There were many famous scholastics, or ''schoolmen," but 
easily the foremost among them was the Italian monk, Thomas 
o ^,- Aquinas. He taught at Paris, Cologne, Rome, and 

St. TI101118.S 

Aqmnas, Bologna, and became so celebrated for learning 

1227-1274 g^g ^Q ]3g known as the "Angelic Doctor." Though 
Aquinas died at an early age, he left behind him 
no less than eighteen folio volumes. His Sunima Theologies 
("Compendium of Theology"), as the name indicates, gathered 
up all that the Middle Ages believed of the relations between 
God and man. The Roman Church has placed him among 
her saints and still recommends the study of his writings as 
the foundation of all sound theology. 

Enough has been said to show that the method of study in 
medieval universities w^as not that which generally obtains 
jjjg to-day. There was almost no original research, 

scholastic Law students memorized the Justinian code. 
°^^ ° Medical students learned anatomy and physiol- 

ogy from old Greek books, instead of in the dissecting room. 
Theologians and philosophers went to the Bible, the Church 
Fathers, or Aristotle for the solution of all problems. They 
often debated the most subtle questions, for instance, "Can 
God ever know more than He knows that He knows?" 
Mental gymnastics of this sort furnished a good training in 
logic, but added nothing to the sum of human knowledge. 
Scholasticism, accordingly, fell into disrepute, in proportion 
as men began to substitute scientific observation and experi- 
ment for speculation. 



205. Science and Magic 

Not all medieval learning took the form of scholasticism. 
The twelfth and thirteenth centuries were marked by a healthy 
Scientific interest in science. Long encyclopedias, written 

inventions [^ Latin, collected all available information about 
the natural world. The study of physics made conspicuous 
progress, partly as a result of Arab influence. Various scientific 
inventions, including magnifying glasses and clocks, w^re worked 



Science and Magic 



573 




Roger Bacon 



out. The mariner's compass, perhaps derived from the Arabs, 
also came into general use.^ 

As representative of this scientific interest we may take the 
Enghshman, Roger Bacon. He studied at Paris, where his 
attainments secured for Roger Bacon, 
him the title of the "Won- about 1214- 
derful Doctor," and lee- ^^^* ^•^• 
tured at Oxford. At a period when 
Aristotle's influence was unbounded, 
Bacon turned away from scholastic 
philosophy to mathematics and the 
sciences. No great discoveries were 
made by him, but it is interesting to 
read a passage in one of his works 
where some modern inventions are 
distinctly foreseen. In time, he wrote, 
ships will be moved without rowers, 
and carriages will be propelled without animals to draw them. 
Machines for flying will also be constructed, "wherein a man 
sits revolving some engine by which artificial wings are made 
to beat the air like a flying bird." Even in Bacon's day it 
would appear that men were trying to make steamboats, au- 
tomobiles, and aeroplanes. 

The discovery of gunpowder, a compound of saltpeter, char- 
coal, and sulphur, has often been attributed to Bacon, probably 
incorrectly. Bacon and other men of his time 
seem to have been familiar with the composition 
of gunpowder, but they regarded it as merely a sort of firework, 
producing a sudden and brilliant flame. They little suspected 
that in a confined space the expansive power of its gases could 
be used to hurl projectiles. Gunpowder was occasionally manu- 
factured during the fourteenth century, but for a long time it 
made more noise than it did harm. Small brass cannon, throw- 
ing stone balls, began at length to displace the medieval siege 
weapons, and still later muskets took the place of the bow, the 
cross-bow, and the pike. The revolution in the art of warfare 

1 See page 6i8. 



Gunpowder 



574 Medieval Civilization 

introduced by gunpowder had vast importance. It destroyed 
the usefulness of the castle and enabled the peasant to fight the 
mailed knight on equal terms. Gunpowder, accordingly, must 
be included among the forces which brought about the down- 
fall of feudalism. 

The study of chemistry also engaged the attention of medieval 
investigators. It was, however, much mixed up with alchemy, 
Chemistry a false science which the Middle Ages had received 
and alchemy fj-^j^ ^j^g Greeks, and they, in turn, from the 
Egyptians. The alchemists beheved that minerals possessed a 
real life of their own and that they were continually developing 
in the ground toward the state of gold, the perfect metal. It 
was necessary, therefore, to discover the ''philosopher's stone," 
which would turn all metals into gold. The alchemists never 
found it, but they learned a good deal about the various metals 
and discovered a number of compounds and colors. In this 
way alchemy contributed to the advance of chemistry. 

Astronomy in the Middle Ages was the most advanced of any 
natural science, though the telescope and the Copernican theory ^ 
Astronomy were as yet in the future. Astronomy, the wise 
and astrology mother, had a foolish daughter, astrology, the origin 
of which can be traced back to Babylonia.^ Medieval students 
no longer regarded the stars as divine, but they believed that 
the natural world and the life of men were controlled by celestial 
influences. Hence astrologers professed to predict the fate of 
a person from the position of the planets at the time of his birth. 
Astrological rules were also drawn from the signs of the zodiac. 
A child born under the sign of the Lion will be courageous; one 
born under the Crab will not go forward well in life; one born 
under the Waterman will probably be drowned, and so forth. 
Such fancies seem absurd enough, but in the Middle Ages 
educated people entertained them. 

Alchemy and astrology were not the only instances of medie- 

Medieval val credulity. The most improbable stories found 

creduUty ready acceptance. Roger Bacon, for instance, 

thought that ''flying dragons" still existed in Europe and that 

1 See pages 133 and 608. * See page 53. 



Science and Magic 



575 



eating their flesh lengthened human hfe. Works on natural 
history soberly described the lizard-like salamander, which dwelt 
in fire, and the phoenix, a bird which, after living for five hun- 
dred years, burned itself to death and then rose again full grown 
from the ashes. Another fabulous creature was the unicorn, 
with the head and body of a horse, the hind legs of an antelope, 
the beard of a goat, and a long, sharp horn set in the middle of 
the forehead. Various plants and minerals were also credited 
with marvelous powers. Thus, the nasturtium, used as a lini- 
ment, would keep one's hair from falling out, and the sapphire, 
when powdered and mixed with milk, would heal ulcers and cure 
headache. Such quaint 
beliefs linger to-day 
among uneducated 
people, even in civilized 
lands. 

Magicians of every sort 
flourished in the Middle 

Ages. Onei- „ . . 

Magicians 
romancers^ 

took omens from dreams. 
Pahnists read fortunes in 
the lines and irregularities 
of the hand. Necroman- 
cers 2 professed to reveal the future by pretended communi- 
cations with departed spirits. Other magicians made tahsmans 
or lucky objects to be worn on the person, mirrors in which 
the images of the dead or the absent were reflected, and vari- 
ous powders which, when mixed with food or drink, would 
inspire hatred or affection in the one consuming them. 
Indeed, it would be easy to draw up a long list of the 
devices by which practitioners of magic made a living at the 
expense of the ignorant and the superstitious. 

206. Popular Superstitions 
Many medieval superstitions are preserved in folk tales, or 
"fairy stories." Every child now reads these tales in books, 

1 Greek oneiros, "dream." 2 Greek nekros, "corpse." 




Magician Rescued from the Devil 

Miniature in a thirteenth-century manuscript in 
the Bibliotheque Nationale, Paris. The Devil, at- 
tempting to seize a magician who had formed a 
pact with him, is prevented by a lay brother. 



576 Medieval Civilization 

but until the nineteenth century very few of them had been 
collected and written down.^ They lived on the 
lips of the people, being told by mothers and nurses 
to children and by young and old about the firesides during the 
long winter evenings. Story- telling formed one of the chief 
amusements of the Middle Ages. 

The fairies who appear so commonly in folk tales are known 
by different names. They are bogies, brownies, goblins, pixies, 
kobolds (in Germany), trolls (in Denmark), and 
so on. The Celts, especially, had a lively faith in 
fairies, and it was from Wales, Scotland, and Ireland that many 
stories about them became current in Europe after the tenth 
century. Some students have explained the belief in fairies 
as due to memories of an ancient pygmy people dwelhng in 
underground homes. But most of these supernatural beings 
seem to be the descendants of the spirits and demons which in 
savage fancy haunt the world. 

A comparison of European folk tales shows that fairies have 
certain characteristics in common. They live in palaces under- 
Character- neath the ground, from which they emerge at twi- 
istics hght to dance in mystic circles. They are ruled 

o aines ^^ kings and queens and are possessed of great 

wealth. Though usually invisible, they may sometimes be seen, 
especially by people who have the faculty of perceiving spirits. 
To mortals the fairies are generally hostile, leading wanderers 
astray, often blighting crops and cattle, and shooting arrows 
which carry disease and death. They are constantly on the 
watch to carry off human beings to their realm. A prisoner 
must be released at the end of a certain time, unless he tastes 
fairy food, in which event he can never return. Children in 
cradles are frequently snatched away by the fairies, who leave, 
instead, imps of their own called ''changelings." A changehng 
may always be recognized by its peevishness and backwardness 
in learning to w^alk and speak. If well treated, the fairies will 

1 Charles Perrault's Tales of Passed Times appeared at Paris in 1697 a.d. It 
included the now-familiar stories of "Bluebeard," " Cinderella, " " Sleeping Beaut3% " 
and "Little Red Riding Hood." In 1812 a.d. the brothers Grimm pubhshed their 
Household Tales, a collection of stories current in Germany. 



Popular Superstitions 577 

sometimes show their gratitude by bestowing on their favorites 
health, wealth, and long hfe. Lucky the child who can count 
on a ''fairy god-mother." 

Stories of giants are common in folk tales. Giants are often 
represented as not only big but also stupid, and as easily over- 
come by keen-witted human foes Uke "Jack the Giants 
Giant-killer." It may be that traditions of pre- and ogres 
historic peoples have sometimes given birth to legends of giants. 
Another source of stories concerning them has been the dis- 
covery of huge fossil bones, such as those of the mammoth or 
mastodon, which were formerly supposed to be bones of gigantic 
men. The ogres, who sometimes figure in folk tales, are giants 
with a taste for human flesh. They recall the cannibals of the 
savage world. 

Werewolves were persons who, by natural gift or magic art, 
were thought to have the power of turning themselves for a time 

into wild beasts (generally wolves or bears). In 

Werewolves 
this animal shape they ravaged flocks and de- 
voured young children. A werewolf was said to sleep only two 
nights in the month and to spend the rest of the time roam- 
ing the woods and fields. Trials of persons accused of being 
werewolves were held in France as late as the end of the six- 
teenth century. Even now the behef is found in out-of-the- 
way parts of Europe. 

Another medieval superstition was that of the evil eye. 
According to this belief, certain persons could bewitch, injure, 

and kill by a glance. Children and domestic ani- 

1 1 , 1 -11 ■^ ■, The evil eye 

mals were thought to be particularly susceptible 

to the effects of ''fascination." In order to guard against it 

charms of various sorts, including texts from the Bible, were 

carried about. The belief in the evil eye came into Europe from 

pagan antiquity. It survived the Middle Ages and lingers yet 

among uneducated people. 

The superstitions relating to werewolves and the evil eye are 

particular forms of the belief in witchcraft, or 

"black magic." The Middle Ages could not escape 

this delusion, which was firmly held by the Greeks and Romans 



578 



Medieval Civilization 



and other ancient peoples. Witchcraft had, indeed, a pre- 
historic origin and the behef in it still prevails in savage 
society. 

Witches and wizards were supposed to have sold themselves 
to the Devil, receiving in return the power to work magic. They 
Feattiresof could change themselves or others into animals, 
European they had charms against the hurt of weapons, they 
^^^^ ^^ could raise storms and destroy crops, and they 

could convey thorns, pins, and other objects into their victims' 






^-?*>^^^ 



'J^e^ 



:^^o 



„i^«'- >^ 







The Witches' Sabbath 

bodies, thus causing sickness and death. At night they rode on 
broomsticks through the air and assembled in some lonely place 
for feasts, dances, and wild revels. At these ''Witches' Sab- 
baths," as they were called, the Devil himself attended and 
taught his followers their diabolic arts. There were various 
tests for the discovery of witches and wizards, the most usual 
being the ordeal by water.^ 

The numerous trials and executions for witchcraft form a dark 
page in history. Thousands of harmless old men and women 

1 See page 420. 



Popular Amusements and Festivals 



579 



Unlucky days 



were put to death on the charge of being leagued with the 
Devil. Even the most intelligent and humane Witchcraft 
people believed in the reality of witchcraft and persecutions 
found a justification for its punishment in the Scriptural 
command, ''Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live."^ The 
witch epidemic which broke out in America during the seven- 
teenth century, reaching its height at Salem, Massachusetts, was 
simply a reflection of the European fear and hatred of witches. 
The Middle Ages inherited from antiquity the observance of 
unlucky days. They went under the name of "Egyptian 
days," so called because it was held that on one 
of them the plagues had been sent to devastate 
the land of Egypt and on another Pharaoh and his host had 
been swallowed up in the Red Sea. At least twenty-four days 
in the year were regarded as very unlucky. At such times one 
ought not to buy and sell, to build a house, to plant a field, to 
travel or, in fact, to undertake anything at all important. After 
the sixteenth century the belief in unlucky days declined, but 
there still exists a prejudice against fishermen starting out to 
fish, or seamen to take a voyage, or landsmen a journey, or do- 
mestic servants to enter a new place, on a Friday. 

207. Popular Amusements and Festivals 

It is pleasant to turn from the superstitions of the Middle 
Ages to the games, 

sports, ^ ^ 

Indoor games 
and fes- 
tivals which helped 
to make life agree- 
able alike for rich 
and poor, for nobles 
and peasants. Some 
indoor games are of 
eastern origin. 
Thus chess, with 
which European peoples seem to have become acquainted as 

1 Exodus, xxii, i8. 




bur'g>- 





Chess Pieces of Charlemagne 

Bibliotheque Nationale, Paris' 
The figures are carved in ivory. 



580 Medieval Civilization 

early as the tenth century/ arose in India as a war game. On 
each side a king and his general, with chariots, cavalry, ele- 
phants, and infantry, met in battle array. These survive in 
the rooks, knights, bishops, and pawns of the modern game. 
Checkers is a sort of simplified chess, in which the pieces are 
all pawns, till they get across the board and become kings. 
Playing cards are another Oriental invention. They were 
introduced into Europe in the fourteenth century, either by 
the Arabs or the gypsies. Their first use seems to have been 
for telUng fortunes. 

Many outdoor games are derived from those played in medie- 
val times. How one kind of game may become the parent of 
Outdoor many others is seen in the case of the ball-play, 

games j^g ancients tossed and caught balls as children 

do now. They also had a game in which each side tried to secure 
the ball and throw it over the adversary's goal Hne. This game 
lasted on into the Middle Ages, and from it football has de- 
scended. The ancients seem never to have used a stick or bat 
in their ball-play. The Persians, however, began to play ball 
on horseback, using a long mallet for the purpose, and intro- 
duced their new sport throughout Asia. Under the Tibetan 
name of pulu ("ball") it found its way into Europe. ^ When 
once the mallet had been invented for use on horseback, it 
could be easily used on foot, and so polo gave rise to the 
various games in which balls are hit with bats, including 
tennis, hockey, golf, cricket, and croquet. 

The difference between our ideas of w^hat constitutes "sport" 
and those of our ancestors is shown by the popularity of baiting. 

^ . . In the twelfth century bulls, bears, and even horses 

Baiting -^ ' 

were baited. Cock-fighting formed another com- 
mon amusement. It was not till the nineteenth century that 
an English society for the prevention of cruelty to animals 
succeeded in getting a law passed which forbade these cruel 
sports. Most other European countries have now followed 
England's example. 
No account of life in the Middle Ages can well omit some 

» See page 428. 



Popular Amusements and Festivals 



581 



Festivals 




Bear Baiting 

From the Luttrell Psalter, 



reference to the celebration of festivals. For the peasant and 
artisan they provided reHef from physical exertion, 
and for all classes of society the pageants, pro- 
cessions, sports, feasts, and merry-makings which accompanied 
them furnished welcome diversion. Medieval festivals included 
not only those 
of the Christian 
Year,^ but also 
others which had 
come down from 
p r e-C hr istian 
times. 

Many festivals 
not of Christian 
origin were derived 
from the ceremo- 
nies with which the heathen peoples of Europe had been 
accustomed to mark the changes of the seasons. Seasonal 
Thus, April Fool's Day formed a relic of festivities festivals 
held at the vernal equinox. May Day, another festival of 
spring, honored the spirits of trees and of all budding vegetation. 
The persons who acted as May kings and May queens repre- 
sented these spirits. According to the original custom a new 
May tree was cut down in the forest every year, but later a 
permanent May pole was set up on the village common. On 
Midsummer Eve (June 23), which marked the summer solstice, 
came the fire festival, when people built bonfires and leaped 
over them, walked in procession with torches r^ound the fields, 
and rolled burning wheels down the hillsides. These curious 
rites may have been once connected with sun worship. Hallow 
Eve, so called from being the eve of All Saints' Day (November 
i), also seems to have been a survival of a heathen celebration. 
On this night witches and fairies were supposed to assemble. 
Hallow Eve does not appear to have been a season for pranks 
and jokes, as is its present degenerate form. Even the festival 
of Christmas, coming at the winter solstice, kept some heathen 

1 See page 346. 



582 



Medieval Civilization 



features, such as the use of mistletoe with which Celtic priests 
once decked the altars of their gods. The Christmas tree, 
however, is not a rehc of heathenism. It seems to have come 
into use as late as the seventeenth century. 

Young and old took part in the dances which accompanied 
village festivals. Very popular in medieval England was the 
The Morris Morris dance. The name, a corruption of Moor- 
dance jg]^^ refers to its origin in Spain. The Morris dance 
was especially associated with May Day and was danced round 
a May pole to a lively and capering step. The performers 
represented Robin Hood, Maid Marian, his wife, Tom the 

Piper, and other 
traditional charac- 
ters. On their 
garments they 
wore bells tuned 
to different notes, 
so as to sound in 
harmony. 

Mumming had 
a particular asso- 
ciation with Christ- 
Mummers 
were 
bands 
of men and women 
who disguised 
themselves in 




mas 



Mumming 



Mummers 

From a manuscript now in the Bodleian Library, Oxford. 
It was written and illuminated in the reign of Edward III. 



masks and skins of animals and then serenaded people outside 
their houses. Oftentimes the mummers acted out little plays 
in which Father Christmas, Old King Cole, and St. George 
were famihar figures. 

Besides these village amusements, many plays of a religious 
character came into vogue during the twelfth and thirteenth 
centuries. The earhest were the miracle plays. 
They presented in dramatic form scenes from the 
Bible and stories of the saints or martyrs. The actors at first 



Miracle plays 



Popular Amusements and Festivals 



583 



were priests, and the stage was the church itself or the church- 
yard. This rehgious setting did not prevent the introduction 
of clowns and buffoons. After a time the miracle play passed 
from the clergy to the guilds. All the guilds of a town usually 




A Miracle Play at Coventry, England 

The rude platform on wheels, which served as a stage, was drawn by apprentices to the 
market place. Each guild had its own stage. 

gave an exhibition once a year. Each guild presented a single 
scene in the story. An exhibition might last for several days 
and have as many as fifty scenes, beginning at Creation and 
ending with Doomsday.^ 

The miracle plays w^re followed by the ''moralities." They 
dealt with the struggle between good and evil, rather than with 



' The great Passion Play at Ober-Ammergau in Germany is the modern survival 
and representative of this medieval religious drama. 



584 Medieval Civilization 

theology. Characters such as Charity, Faith, Prudence, 
Morality Riches, Confession, and Death appeared and en- 

plays acted a story intended to teach moral lessons.^ 

Out of the rude "morahty" and its predecessor, the miracle 
play, has grown the drama of modern times. 

208. Manners and Customs 

A previous chapter ^ described some features of domestic 
life in castle and village during the age of feudalism. In Eng- 

_ „. land, 

Dwellings 

where 

the Norman kings 
discouraged castle 
building, the man- 
or house formed 
the ordinary resi- 
dence of the no- 
j bility. Even in 
^ Continental Eu- 
rope many castles 
were gradually 
made over into 
manor houses after 
the cessation of feudal warfare. A manor house, however, was 
only less bare and inconvenient than a castle. It was still 
poorly lighted, ill- ventilated, and in winter scarcely warmed by 
the open wood fires. Among the improvements of the four- 
teenth century were the building of a fireplace at one or both 
ends of the manor hall, instead of in the center, and the substi- 
tution of glass windows for wooden shutters or oiled paper. 
People in the Middle Ages, even the well-to-do, got along with 
little furniture. The great hall of a manor house 
contained a long dining table, with benches used 
at meals, and a few stools. The family beds often occupied 




Manor House in Shropshire, England 

Built in the twelfth century. 



Ftimiture 



1 Everyman, one of the best of the morality plays, has recently been revived 
before large audiences. 

2 Chapter xviii. 



Manners and Customs 



585 



curtained recesses in the walls, but guests might have to sleep 
on the floor of the manor hall. Servants often slept in the 
stables. Few persons could afford rugs to cover the floor; the 
poor had to put up with rushes. Utensils were not numerous, 

y yu >^. 




Interior of an English Manor House 

Shows the great hall of a manor house at Penshurst, Kent. The screen with the 
minstrels' gallery over it is seen at the end of the hall, and in the center, the brazier 
for fire. Built about 1340 a.d. 



and articles of glass and silver were practically unknown, except 

in the houses of the rich. Entries in wiUs show the high value 

set upon a single spoon. 

The pictures in old manuscripts give us a good idea of medieval 

dress. Naturally it varied with time and place, and according 

to the social position of the wearer. Sometimes ^ 

1-1 11 1 Costume 

laws were passed, without much result, to regulate 

the quahty, shape, and cost of the costumes to be worn by dif- 
ferent orders of society. The moralists of the age were shocked, 
then as now, when tightly fitting garments, which showed the 
outlines of the body, became fashionable. The inconvenience 
of putting them on led to the use of buttons and buttonholes. 
Women's headdresses were often of extraordinary height and 



586 



Medieval Civilization 



shape. Not less remarkable were the pointed shoes worn by- 
men. The points finally got so long that they hindered walk- 
ing, unless tied by a ribbon to the knees. 




Beards 



Costumes of Ladies during the Later Middle Ages 

The medieval noble of the twelfth century as a rule went clean 
shaven. To wear a beard was regarded as a sign of effeminacy 
in a man. The Bayeux Tapestry/ for instance, 
shows the Normans mostly clean-shaven, while the 
English wear only moustaches. The introduction of long beards 
seems to have been due to contact with the East during the 
crusading period. 

It is a common error that bathing was seldom practiced in 
the Middle Ages. In the country districts river, lake, or pool 
Baths and met the needs of people used to outdoor life. The 
bathing ]^q^ ^^j. ^^^ vapor baths of the Byzantines were 

adopted by the Moslems and later, through the Moors and cru- 
saders, were made known to western Europe. After the begin- 
ning of the thirteenth century few large cities lacked public 
bathing places. 

Medieval cookbooks show that people of means had all sorts 
of elaborate and expensive dishes. Dinner at a nobleman's 
house might include as many as ten or twelve courses, mostly 

1 See the illustration, page 408. 



Manners and Customs 587 

meats and game. Such things as hedgehogs, peacocks, spar- 
rows, and porpoises, which would hardly tempt 
the modern palate, were rehshed. Much use 
was made of spices in preparing meats and gravies, and also 
for flavoring wines. Over-eating was a common vice in the 
Middle Ages, but the open-air life and constant exercise en- 
abled men and women to digest the huge quantities of food 
they consumed. 

People in medieval times had no knives or forks and conse- 
quently ate with their fingers. Daggers also were employed to 
convey food to the mouth. Forks date from the Table 
end of the thirteenth century, but were adopted etiquette 
only slowly. As late as the sixteenth century German preach- 
ers condemned their use, for, said they, the Lord would not 
have given us fingers if he had wanted us to rely on forks. 
Napkins were another table convenience unknown in the Mid- 
dle Ages. 

In the absence of tea and coffee, ale and beer formed the 
drink of the common people. The upper classes regaled them- 
selves on costly wines. Drunkenness was as com- . 
mon and as little reprobated as gluttony. The 
monotony of life in medieval Europe, when the nobles had httle 
to do but hunt and fight, may partly account for the prevaiHng 
inebriety. But doubtless in large measure it was a Teutonic 
characteristic. The Northmen were hard drinkers, and of the 
ancient Germans a Roman writer states that "to pass an entire 
day and night in drinking disgraces no one." ^ This habit 
of intoxication survived in medieval Germany, and the Anglo- 
Saxons and Danes introduced it into England. 

Our survey of the twelfth and thirteenth centuries has now 
shown us that these two hundred years deserve to be called the 
central period of the Middle Ages. When the central 
Arabs had brought the culture of the Orient to period of the 
Spain and Sicily, when the Northmen after their ^'^^^^ ^^^^ 
wonderful expansion had settled down in Normandy, England, 
and other countries, and when the peoples of western Europe, 

1 Tacitus, Germania, 22. 



588 Medieval Civilization 

whether as peaceful pilgrims or as warhke crusaders, had visited 
Constantinople and the Holy Land, men's minds received a 
wonderful stimulus. The intellectual hfe of Europe ' was 
'^ speeded up," and the way was prepared for the even more 
rapid advance of knowledge in the fourteenth and fifteenth 
centuries, as the Middle Ages passed into modern times. 

Studies 

I. Look up on the map between pages 358-359 the following places where 
Gothic cathedrals are found: Canterbury, York, Salisbury, Reims, Amiens, Char- 
tres, Cologne, Strassburg, Burgos, Toledo, and Milan. 2. Look up on the map 
facing page 636 the location of the following medieval universities: Oxford, Mont- 
pellier, Paris, Orleans, Cologne, Leipzig, Prague, Padua, and Salamanca. 3. Ex- 
plain the following terms: scholasticism; canon law; alchemy; troubadours; 
Provencal language; transept; choir; flying buttress; werewolf; and miunming. 

4. Who were St. Thomas Aquinas, Abelard, Gratian, Irnerius, and Roger Bacon? 

5. Show how Latin served as an international language in the Middle Ages. Name 
two artificial languages which have been invented as a substitute for Latin. 

6. What is meant by saying that "French is a mere patois of Latin"? 7. In what 
parts of the world is EngUsh now the prevaiUng speech? 8. Why has Siegfried, 
the hero of the Nibelungenlied, been called the "Achilles of Tev tonic legend"? 
9. What productions of medieval literature reflect aristocratic and democratic 
ideals, respectively? 10. Distinguish between the Romanesque and Gothic styles 
of architecture. What is the origin of each term? 11. Compare the ground plans 
of a Greek temple (page 291), a Roman basiUca (page 284), and a Gothic cathedral 
(page 562). 12. Contrast a Gothic cathedral with a Greek temple, particularly 
in regard to size, height, support of the roof, windows, and decorative features. 
13. Why is there some excuse for describing a Gothic building as "a wall of glass 
with a roof of stone"? 14. Do you see any resemblance in structural features 
between a Gothic cathedral and a modem "sky-scraper"? 15. Mention some 
likenesses between medieval and modern universities. 16. Mention some im- 
portant subjects of instruction in modem universities which were not treated in 
those of the Middle Ages. 17. Why has scholasticism been called "a sort of Aris- 
toteUan Christianity"? 18. Look up the original meaning of the words "jovial," 
"saturnine," "mercurial," "disastrous," "contemplate," and "consider." 

19. Show the indebtedness of chemistry to alchemy and of astronomy to astrology. 

20. Mention some common folk tales which illustrate medieval superstitions. 

21. Why was Friday regarded as a specially unlucky day? 22. Enumerate the 
most important contributions to civilization made during the Middle Ages. 



CHAPTER XXV 
THE RENAISSANCE 1 

209. Meaning of the Renaissance 

The fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, covering the later 
period of the Middle Ages, are commonly known as those of 
the Renaissance. This French word means Re- Later period 
birth or Revival. It is a convenient term for all of the 
the changes in society, law, and government, in ^ ^ ^^^ 
science, philosophy, and religion, in literature and art which 
gradually transformed medieval civilization into that of modern 
times. 

The Renaissance, just because of its transitional character, 
cannot be exactly dated. Some Renaissance movements 
started before 1300 a.d. For instance, the study Limits of the 
of Roman law, as a substitute for Germanic cus- Renaissance 
toms, began toward the close of the eleventh century. The 
rise of European cities, with all that they meant for industry 
and commerce, belonged to about the same time. Other 
Renaissance movements, again, extended beyond 1500 a.d. 
Among these w^ere the expansion of geographical knowledge, 
resulting from the discovery of the New World, and the revolt 
against the Papacy, known as the Protestant Reformation. 
The Middle Ages, in fact, came to an end at different times in 
different fields of human activity. 

The name Renaissance applied, at first, only to the rebirth 
or revival of men's interest in the hterature and art of classical 
antiquity. Italy was the original home of this original 
Renaissance. There it first appeared, there it home of the 
found widest acceptance, and there it reached its ^^^^^sance 
highest development. From Italy the Renaissance gradually 
spread beyond the Alps, until it had made the round of western 
Europe. 

1 Webster, Readings in Medieval and Modern History, chapter xix, "A Scholar of 
the Renaissance"; chapter xx, "Renaissance Artists." 

589 



590 The Renaissance 

Italy, at the beginning of the fourteenth century, was a land 
particularly favorable to the growth of learning and the arts. 
Italian cities ^^ northern Italy the great cities of Milan, Pisa, 
of the Genoa, Florence, Venice, and many others had 

enaissance gg^j-jy succeeded in throwing off their feudal bur- 
dens and had become independent, self-governing communities. 
Democracy flourished in them, as in the old Greek city-states. 
Noble birth counted for little; a man of abihty and ambition 
might rise to any place. The fierce party conflicts within their 
walls stimulated mental activity and helped to make life full, 
varied, and intense. Their widespread trade and thriving 
manufactures made them prosperous. Wealth brought leisure, 
bred a taste for luxury and the refinements of life, and gave 
means for the gratification of that taste. People wanted to 
have about them beautiful pictures, statuary, furniture, 
palaces, and churches; and they rewarded richly the artists 
who could produce such things. It is not without significance 
that the birthplace of the Italian Renaissance was democratic, 
industrial, and wealthy Florence.^ 

Italy enjoyed another advantage over the other European 
countries in its nearness to Rome. Admiration for the ancient 
Influence of Ro^ian civilization, as expressed in literature, art, 
the classic and law, was felt by all Italians. Wherever they 

a ition looked, they were reminded of the great past which 

once had been theirs. Nor was the inheritance of Greece 

wholly lost. Greek traders and the descendants of Greek 

colonists in Italy still used their ancient language; all through 

the medieval centuries there were Italians who studied 

Greek. The classic tradition thus survived in Italy and 

defied oblivion. 

In the Middle Ages Italy formed a meeting place of several 

. civilizations. Byzantine influence was felt both in 

Arabic, and the north and in the south. The conquest of Sicily 

Norman ^^y ^]^g Arabs made the Italians famihar with the 

influence •^. .,.,., , 

science, art, and poetry of this cultivated people. 

After the Normans had established themselves in south- 

1 See page 545. 




GHIBERTI'S BRONZE DOORS AT FLORENCE 

The second or northern pair of bronze doors of the baptistery at Florence. Completed by 
Lorenzo Ghiberti in 1452 a.d., after twenty-seven years of labor. The ten panels represent 
scenes from Old Testament history. Michelangelo pronounced these magnificent creations 
worthy to be the gates of paradise. 




Exterior 




Interior 
ST. PETER'S, ROME 

St. Peter's, begun in 1506 a.d., was completed in 1667, according to the designs of Bramante, 
Raphael, Michelangelo, and other celebrated architects. It is the largest church in the world. 
The central aisle, nave, and choir measure about 600 feet in length; the great dome, 1^0 
feet in diameter, rises to a height of more than 400 feet. A double colonnade encircles the 
piazza in front of the church. The Vatican is seen to the right of St. Peter's. 



Revival of Learning in Italy 



591 



ern Italy and Sicily, they in turn developed a brilliant civi- 
lization.^ From all these sources flowed streams of cultural 
influence which united in the Renaissance. 



210. Revival of Learning in Italy 

The literature of Greece and Rome did not entirely disappear 
in western Europe after the Germanic invasions. The monas- 
tery and cathedral schools of the Middle Ages had ^j^^ classics 
nourished devoted students of ancient books. The in the 
Benedictine monks labored zealously in copying ^ ^ ^^^ 
the works of pagan as well as Christian authors. The rise of 
universities made it possible for the student to pursue a fairly 
extended course in Latin literature at 
more than one institution of learning. 
Greek Uterature, however, was httle 
known in the West. The poems of 
Homer were read only in a brief Latin 
summary, and even Aristotle's writings 
were studied in Latin translations. 

Reverence for the classics finds con- 
stant expression in the writings of the 

Italian poet Dante. He ^ ^ 

. r T-i Dante 

was a native of Florence, Aiighieri, 

but passed most of his hfe 1205-1321 

'■ A.D. 

in exile. Dante's most fa- 

, 1 -r.. . ^ J 1 ., Dante Alighieri 

mous work, the Divine Comedy, describes 

an imaginary visit to the other world. 

Vergil guides him through the realms 

of Hell and Purgatory until he meets 

his lady Beatrice, the personification of love and purity, who 

conducts him through Paradise. The Divine Comedy gives in 

artistic verse an epitome of all that medieval men knew^ and 

hoped and felt: it is a mirror of the Middle Ages. At the 

same time it drew much of its inspiration from Graeco- 

Roman sources. Athens, for Dante, is the ''hearth from which 




From a fresco, somewhat re- 
stored, ascribed to the contem- 
porary artist, Giotto. In the 
National Museum, Florence. 



1 See page 413. 



592 



The Renaissance 



all knowledge glows"; Homer is the ''loftiest of poets"; and 
Aristotle is the "master of those who know." This feeling for 
classical antiquity entitles Dante to rank as a prophet of the 
Renaissance. 

Dante exerted a noteworthy influence on the Italian language. 
He wrote the Divine Comedy, not in Latin, but in the vernacular 
Dante and ItaUan as spoken in Florence. The popularity 
the Italian of this work helped to give currency to the Floren- 
anguage ^-^^^ dialect, and in time it became the literary 

language of Italy. Italian was the first of the Romance tongues 
to assume a national character. 

Petrarch, a younger contemporary of Dante, and like him a 
native of Florence, has been called the first modern scholar and 




man of letters. He devoted himself with 
Petrarch tireless energy to classical 



1304-1374 
A.D. 



Petrarch 



studies. Writing to a friend, 
Petrarch declares that he 
has read Vergil, Horace, Livy, and 
Cicero, "not once, but a thousand 
times, not cursorily but studiously and 
intently, bringing to them the best 
powers of my mind. I tasted in the 
morning and digested at night. I 
quaffed as a boy, to ruminate as an 
old man. These works have become 
so familiar to me that they cling not 



From a miniature in the Lau- to my mcmory merely, but to the very 

rentian Library, Florence. <- i •>■) 

marrow of my bones. 
Petrarch himself composed many Latin works and did much 
to spread a knowledge of Latin authors. He traveled widely 
in Italy, France, and other countries, searching 
everywhere for ancient manuscripts. When he 
found in one place two lost orations of Cicero 
and in another place a collection of Cicero's letters, he was 
transported with delight. He kept copyists in his house, at 
times as many as four, busily making transcripts of the man- 
uscripts that he had discovered or borrowed. Petrarch knew 



Petrarch 
as a Latin 
revivalist 



Revival of Learning in Italy 593 

almost no Greek. His copy of Homer, it is said, he often 
kissed, though he could not read it. 

Petrarch's friend and disciple, Boccaccio, was the first to 
bring to Italy manuscripts of the Iliad and the Odyssey. Having 
learned some Greek, he wrote out a translation Boccaccio, 
of those epic poems. But Boccaccio's fame to-day 1313-1375 
rests on the Decameron. It is a collection of one 
hundred stories written in Itahan. They are supposed to be 
told by a merry company of men and women, who, during a 
plague at Florence, have retired to a villa in the country. The 
Decameron is the first important work in Italian prose. Many 
English writers, notably Chaucer in his Canterbury Tales,^ 
have gone to it for ideas and plots. The modern short story 
may be said to date from Boccaccio. 

The renewed interest in Latin Hterature, due to Petrarch, 
Boccaccio, and others, was followed in the fifteenth century by 
the revival of Greek literature. In 1396 a.d. study of 
Chrysoloras, a scholar from Constantinople, began Greek in 
to lecture on Greek in the university of Florence. ^ 
He afterwards taught in other Italian cities and further aided 
the growth of Hellenic studies by preparing a Greek grammar 
— the first book of its kind. From this time, and especially 
after the fall of Constantinople in 1453 a.d., many learned 
Greeks came to Italy, thus transplanting in the West the 
culture of the East. '^Greece had not perished, but had 
emigrated to Italy." 

To the scholars of the fifteenth century the classics opened 
up a new world of thought and fancy. They were dehghted 
by the fresh, original, and human ideas which 
they discovered in the pages of Homer, Plato, 
Cicero, Horace, and Tacitus. Their new enthusiasm for the 
classics came to be known as humanism,^ or culture. The 
Greek and Latin languages and literatures were henceforth the 
''humanities," as distinguished from the old scholastic phi- 
losophy and theology. 

1 See page 604. 

2 Latin humanitas, from homo, "man." 



594 The Renaissance 

From Florence, as from a second Athens, humanism spread 
throughout Italy. At Milan and Venice, at Rome and Naples, 
Spread ^^^ ^^^ ^° poring over the classics. A special 

of humanism feature of the age was the recovery of ancient 
^ ^ manuscripts from monasteries and cathedrals, 

where they had often lain neglected and blackened with the 
dust of ages. Nearly all the Latin works now extant were 
brought to light by the middle of the fifteenth century. But 
it was not enough to recover the manuscripts: they had to be 
safely stored and made accessible to students. So libraries 
were established, professorships of the ancient languages were 
endowed, and scholars were given opportunities to pursue their 
researches. Even the popes shared in this zeal for humanism. 
One of them founded the Vatican Library at Rome, which has 
the most valuable collection of manuscripts in the world. At 
Florence the wealthy family of the Medici vied with the popes 
in the patronage of the new learning. 

211. Paper and Printing 

The revival of learning was greatly hastened when printed 
books took the place of manuscripts laboriously copied by 
Printed hand. Printing is a complicated process, and 

books many centuries were required to bring it to 

perfection. Both paper and movable type had to be 
invented. 

The Chinese at a remote period made paper from some fibrous 
material. The Arabs seem to have been the first to make linen 
Introduction paper out of flax and rags. The manufacture of 
of paper paper in Europe was first established by the 

Moors in Spain. The Arab occupation of Sicily introduced 
the art into Italy. Paper found a ready sale in Europe, be- 
cause papyrus and parchment, which the ancients had used as 
writing materials, were both expensive and heavy. Men now 
had a material moderate in price, durable, and one that would 
easily receive the impression of movable type. 

The first step in the development of printing was the use of 
engraved blocks. Single letters, separate words, and some- 



Paper and Printing 



595 



times entire pages of text were cut in hard wood or copper. 
When inked and applied to writing material, Development 
they left a clear impression. The second step of movable 
was to cast the letters in separate pieces of ^^^ 
metal, all of the same height and thickness. These could 
then be arranged in any desired w^ay for printing. 

Movable type had been used for centuries by the 
Chinese, Japanese, and 



Gutenberg 




Koreans in 
the East, 

and in Europe several 
printers have been cred- 
ited with their invention. 
A German, Johann Guten- 
berg of Mainz, set up the 
first printing press with 
movable type about 1450 
A.D., and from it issued 
the first printed book. 
This was a Latin transla- 
tion of the Bible. 

The new art quickly 
spread throughout Chris- 
tian Europe. It met an 
especially warm welcome 
in Italy, where people felt 
so keen a Aldus and 
desire for C*^*°^ 
reading and instruction. By the end of the fifteenth century 
Venice alone had more than two hundred printing presses. 
Here Aldus Manutius maintained a famous establishment for 
printing Greek and Latin classics. In 1476 a.d. the English 
printer, Wilham Caxton, set up his wooden presses within the 
precincts of Westminster Abbey. To him we owe editions of 
Chaucer's poems. Sir Thomas Malory's Morte d' Arthur ^^ Msop^s 
Fables, and many other works. 

1 See page 560. 



An Early Printing Press 

Enlarged from the printer's mark of I. B. 
Ascensius. Used on the title pages of books printed 
by him, 1507-1535 a.d. 




596 The Renaissance 

The books printed in the fifteenth century go by the name of 

incunabula} Of the seven or eight million volumes which 

appeared before 1500 a.d., about thirty thousand 

Incunabula , ,. , , .,, . . n*^ r 

are beheved to be still m existence. Many of 

these earliest books were printed in heavy, ''black letter" 

type, an imitation of the characters used in monkish manu- 

j iBtm im^m sg^gntf^ (afoeUc of O^t onepat 
Ufr^^Mw^Jl ^Pjt fpsNe/C^tlittotbetbtlt 

Thenne beganne agayne the bataylle of the one parte/ And of the 
other Eneas ascryed to theym and sayd. Lordes why doo ye fyghte/ 
Ye knowe well that the couuenante ys deuysed and made/That Turnus 
and I shall fyghte for you alle/ 

Facsimile of Part of Caxton's "^Eneid" (reduced) 

With the same passage in modern type. 

scripts. It is still retained for most books printed in Germany. 
The clearer and neater "Roman" characters, resembling the 
letters employed for ancient Roman inscriptions, came into 
use in southern Europe and England. The Aldine press at 
Venice also devised "itahc" type, said to be modeled after 
Petrarch's handwriting, to enable the pubHsher to crowd more 
words on a page. 

The invention of printing has been called the greatest event 
in history. The statement is hardly too strong. It is easy to 
Importance See that printing immensely increased the supply 
of printing ^f books. A hardworking copyist might produce, 
at the most, only a few volumes a year; a printing press could 
strike them off by the thousands. Not only more books, but 
also more accurate books, could be produced by printing. The 
old-time copyist, however skilful, was sure to make mistakes, 
sometimes of a serious character. No two copies of any manu- 
script were exactly alike. When, however, an entire edition 

1 A Latin word meaning "cradle" or "birthplace," and so the beginning of 
anything. 



Revival of Art in Italy 597 

was printed from the same type, mistakes in the different 
copies might be entirely eHminated. Furthermore, the inven- 
tion of printing destroyed the monopoly of learning possessed 
by the universities and people of wealth. Books were now the 
possession of the many, not the luxury of the few. Anyone 
who could read had opened to him the gateway of knowledge; 
he became a citizen, henceforth, of the republic of letters. 
Printing, which made possible popular education, public libra- 
ries, and ultimately cheap newspapers, ranks with gunpowder ^ 
as an emancipating force. 

212. Revival of Art in Italy 

Gothic architecture, with its pointed arches, flying buttresses, 

and traceried windows, never struck deep roots in Italy. 

The architects of the Renaissance went back to . 

Architecture 
Greek temples and Roman domed buildings for 

their models, just as the humanists went back to Greek and 
Latin Hterature. Long rows of Ionic or Corinthian columns, 
spanned by round arches, became again the prevailing archi- 
tectural style. Perhaps the most important accompHshment 
of Renaissance builders was the adoption of the dome, instead 
of the vault, for the roofs of churches. The majestic cupola of 
St. Peter's at Rome,^ which is modeled after the Pantheon,^ 
has become the parent of many domed structures in the Old 
and New World.'* Architects, however, did not limit them- 
selves to churches. The magnificent palaces of Florence, as 
well as some of those in Venice, are among the monuments of 
the Renaissance era. Henceforth architecture became more 
and more a secular art. 

The development of architecture naturally stimulated the 

other arts. Italian sculptors began to copy the ^ , 

1 1 . i Sculpture 

ancient bas-reliefs and statues preserved m Rome 

and other cities. At this time glazed terra cotta came to be 

1 See page 574. 2 See the plate facing page 591. 

3 See the illustration, page 202. 

* For instance, the Invalides in Paris, St. Paul's in London, and the Capitol at 
Washington. 



598 The Renaissance 

used by sculptors. Another Renaissance art was the casting 
of bronze doors, with panels which represented scenes from 
the Bible. The beautiful doors of the baptistery of Florence 
were described as ''worthy of being placed at the entrance of 
Paradise." 

The greatest of Renaissance sculptors was Michelangelo. 
Though a Florentine by birth, he lived in Rome and made 
Michelangelo ^^^^ ^^^^ ^ center of Italian art. A colossal statue 
1475-1564 of David, who looks like a Greek athlete, and an- 
' ' other of Moses, seated and holding the table of the 

law, are among his best-known works. Michelangelo also won 
fame in architecture and painting. The dome of St. Peter's 
was finished after his designs. Having been commissioned by 
one of the popes to decorate the ceiling of the Sistine chapel ^ 
in the Vatican, he painted a series of scenes which presented 
the Biblical story from the Creation to the Flood. These 
frescoes are unequaled for subHmity and power. On the end 
wall of the same chapel Michelangelo produced his fresco of the 
"Last Judgment," one of the most famous paintings in the 
world. 

The early Italian painters contented themselves, at first, 
with imitating Byzantine mosaics and enamels.^ Their work 
Rise of exhibited little knowledge of human anatomy: 

Italian faces might be lifelike, but bodies were too slender 

painting ^^^ ^^^ ^£ proportion. The figures of men and 

women were posed in stiff and conventional attitudes. The 
perspective also was false: objects which the painter wished to 
represent in the background were as near as those which he 
wished to represent in the foreground. In the fourteenth cen- 
tury, however, Italian painting abandoned the Byzantine style; 
achieved beauty of form, design, and color to an extent hitherto 
unknown; and became at length the supreme art of the 
Renaissance. 

Italian painting began in the service of the Church and 
always remained religious in character. Artists usually chose 

1 In this chapel the election of a new pope takes place. 

2 See page 336. 



Revival of Art in Italy 599 

subjects from the Bible or the lives of the saints. They did 
not trouble themselves to secure correctness of characteris- 
costume, but represented ancient Jews, Greeks, tics of Italian 
and Romans in the garb of ItaUan gentlemen. P*^*^s 
Many of their pictures were frescoes, that is, the colors were 
mixed with water and applied to the plaster walls of churches 
and palaces. After the process of mixing oils with the colors 
was discovered, pictures on wood or canvas (easel paintings) 
became common. Renaissajice painters excelled in portraiture. 
They were less successful with landscapes. 

Among the ^'old masters" of Italian painting four, besides 
Michelangelo, stand out with special prominence. Leonardo 
da Vinci (1452-1519 a.d.) was architect, sculptor, The ''old 
musician, and engineer, as well as painter. His masters" 
finest work, the "Last Supper," a fresco painting at Milan, is 
much damaged, but fortunately good copies of it exist. Paris 
has the best of his easel pictures — the ''Monna Lisa." Leo- 
nardo spent four years on it and then declared that he could 
not finish it to his satisfaction. Leonardo's contemporary, 
Raphael (1483-15 20 a.d.), died before he was forty, but not 
before he had produced the ''Sistine Madonna," now at Dres- 
den, the "Transfiguration," in the Vatican Gallery at Rome, 
and many other famous compositions. In Raphael Italian 
painting reached its zenith. All his works are masterpieces. 
Another artist, the Venetian Titian (1477?-! 5 76 a.d.), painted 
portraits unsurpassed for glowing color. His "Assumption 
of the Virgin" ranks among the greatest pictures in the world. 
Lastly must be noted the exquisite paintings of Correggio 
(1494-1534 A.D.), among them the "Holy Night" and the 
"Marriage of St. Catherine." 

Another modern art, that of music, arose in Italy during the 
Renaissance. In the sixteenth century the three-stringed 
rebeck received a fourth string and became the ,, . 

•1-1 . r ^^ • i • MuSlC 

Violin, the most expressive of all musical instru- 
ments. A forerunner of the pianoforte also appeared in the 
harpsichord. A papal organist and choir-master, Palestrina 
(i 526-1 594 A.D.), was the first of the great composers. He gave 



6oo The Renaissance 

music its fitting place in worship by composing melodious 
h3mins and masses still sung in Roman Catholic churches. 
The oratorio, a religious drama set to music but without action, 
scenery, or costume, had its beginning at this time. The opera, 
however, was little developed until the eighteenth century. 

213. Revival of Learning and Art beyond Italy 

About the middle of the fifteenth century fire from the Italian 
altar was carried across the Alps, and a revival of learning 
Spread of began in northern lands. Italy had led the way 
humanism in by recovering the long-buried treasures of the 

urope classics and by providing means for their study. 

Scholars in Germany, France, and England, who now had the 
aid of the printing press, continued the intellectual movement 
and gave it widespread currency. 

The foremost humanist of the age was Desiderius Erasmus. 
Though a native of Rotterdam in Holland, he lived for a time 
. in Germany, France, England, and Italy, and died 

Erasmus, at Basel in Switzerland. His travels and exten- 

1466(?)-1536 gjyg correspondence brought him in contact with 
most of the leading scholars of the day. Eras- 
mus wrote in Latin many works which were read and enjoyed 
by educated men. He might be called the first really popular 
author in Europe. Like Petrarch, he did much to encourage 
the humanistic movement by his precepts and his example. 
''When I have money," said this devotee of the classics, "1 
will first buy Greek books and then clothes." 

Erasmus performed his most important service as a Biblical 
critic. In 1516 a.d. he published the New Testament in the 
Greek Testa- original Greek, with a Latin translation and a dedi- 
mentof cation to the pope. Up to this time the only 

rasmus accessible edition of the New Testament was the 

old Latin version known as the Vulgate, which St. Jerome had 
made near the close of the fourth century. By preparing a new 
and more accurate translation, Erasmus revealed the fact that 
the Vulgate contained many errors. By printing the Greek 
text, together with notes which helped to make the meaning 




Assumption of the Virgin — Titian 



SisTiNE Madonna — Raphael 




rm; L\sr SirrER — Leonardo da Vinci 





Marriage of St. Catherine 
correggio 



MoNNA Lisa Giocond; 
Leonardo da Vinci 



ITALIAN PAINTINGS OF THE RENAISSANCE 



^ ; ^^ :^ ■ 




-## 


1% 






1 


w^ ^ Stf^" 


r^ 




■jj^ # *> ^^ ^ 


i ' 


L 






1 



The Night Watch — Rembrandt 




Descent from the Cross — Rubens The Immaculate Conception — Murillo 

FLEMISH. DUTCH, AND SPANISH PAINTINGS OF THE RENAISSANCE 



Revival of Learning and Art beyond Italy 60 1 




clear, Erasmus enabled scholars to discover for themselves 
just what the New Testament writers had actually said.^ 

Erasmus as a student of the New Testament carried humanism 
over into the rehgious field. His 
friends and associates, espe- 
cially in Germany, Humanism 
continued his and the 
work. "We are all l*«">™«ti<>» 
learning Greek now," said 
Luther, ''in order to under- 
stand the Bible." Humanism, 
by becoming the handmaid of 
religion, thus passed insensibly 
into the Reformation. 

ItaHan architects found a 
cordial reception in France, 
Spain, the Netherlands, and 
other countries. The artistic 
where they intro- revival in 
duced Renaissance "^°P® 
styles of building and ornamen- 
tation. The celebrated palace 
of the Louvre in Paris, w^hich is used to-day as an art gallery 
and museum, dates from the sixteenth century. At this time 
the French nobles began to replace their somber feudal dwellings 
by elegant country houses. Renaissance sculpture also spread 
beyond Italy throughout Europe. Painters in northern coun- 
tries at first followed Italian models, but afterwards produced 
masterpieces of their own.^ 

^ The so-called Complutensian Polyglott, issued at Alcala in Spain by Cardi- 
nal Jimenes, did even more for the advance of Biblical scholarship. This 
was the first printed text of the Greek New Testament, but it was not actually 
published till 1522 A.D., six years after the appearance of the edition by 
Erasmus. 

2 A list of the great European painters would include at least the following names: 
Diirer (1471-1582 a. d.) and Hans Holbein the Younger (1497-1543 a.d.) in Ger- 
many; Rubens (1577-1640 a.d.) and Van Dyck (1599-1641 a.d.) in Flanders; 
Rembrandt (1606-1669 a.d.) in Holland; Claude Lorraine (1600-1682 a.d.) in 
France; and Velasquez (1599-1660 a.d.) and Murillo (1617-1682 a.d.) in Spain. 



Desiderius Erasmus 

Louvre, Paris 

A portrait by the German artist, Hans 
Holbein the Younger (1497-1543 a.d.). 
Probably an excellent likeness of Erasmus. 



6o2 The Renaissance 

214. The Renaissance in Literature 

The renewed interest in classical studies for a time retarded 
the development of national languages and literatures in Europe. 
Humanism ^^ ^^^ humanists only Latin and Greek seemed 
and the worthy of notice. Petrarch, for instance, com- 

vernacular posed in Itahan beautiful sonnets which are still 
much admired, but he himseh expected to gain hterary immor- 
tality through his Latin works. Another Italian humanist 
went so far as to call Dante "a poet for bakers and cobblers," 
and the Divine Comedy was indeed translated into Latin a few 
years after the author's death. 

But a return to the vernacular was bound to come. The 
common people understood little Latin, and Greek not at all. 
^j^g Yet they had learned to read and they now had 

vernacular the printing press. Before long many books com- 
revival posed in Italian, Spanish, French, English, and 

other national languages made their appearance. This revival 
of the vernacular meant that henceforth European literature 
would be more creative and original than was possible when 
writers merely imitated or translated the classics. The mod- 
els provided by Greece and Rome still continued, however, to 
furnish inspiration to men of letters. 

The Florentine historian and diplomat, MachiaveUi, by his 
book. The Prince, did much to found the modern science of 
MachiaveUi poHtics. Machiavelli, as a patriotic Italian, felt 
1469-1527 infinite distress at the divided condition of Italy, 
^'^' where numerous petty states were constantly at 

war. In The Prince he tried to show how a strong, despotic 
ruler might set up a national state in the peninsula. He thought 
that such a ruler ought not to be bound by the ordinary rules of 
morality. He must often act "against faith, against charity, 
against humanity, and against religion." The end would justify 
the means. Success was everything; morahty, nothing. This 
dangerous doctrine has received the name of ''Machiavellism"; 
it is not yet dead in European statecraft. 

Spain during the sixteenth century gave to the world in 



The Renaissance in Literature 



603 




Cervantes 



Cervantes the only Spanish writer who has achieved a great 
reputation outside his own country. Cervantes 's cervantes 
masterpiece, Don Quixote, seems to have been 1547-1616 
intended as a burlesque upon the romances of * * 
chivalry once so popular in 
Europe. The hero, Don 
Quixote, attended by his 
shrewd and faithful squire, 
Sancho Panza, rides forth to 
perform deeds of knight- 
errantry, but meets, instead, 
the most absurd adventures. 
The work is a vivid picture 
of Spanish life. Nobles, 
priests, monks, traders, farm- 
ers, innkeepers, muleteers, 
barbers, beggars — all these 
pass before our eyes as in 
a panorama. Don Quixote 
immediately became popular, and it is even more read to-day 
than it was three centuries ago. 

The Flemish writer, Froissart, deserves notice as a historian 
and as one of the founders of French prose. His Chronicles 
present an account of the fourteenth century, pj-oisgart 
when the age of feudalism was fast drawing to an 1337 (?)-i4io 
end. He admired chivalry and painted it in glow- * * 
ing colors. He liked to describe tournaments, battles, sieges, and 
feats of arms. Kings and nobles, knights and squires, are the 
actors on his stage. Froissart traveled in many countries and got 
much of his information at first hand from those who had made 
history. Out of what he learned he composed a picturesque 
and romantic story, which still captivates the imagination. 

A very different sort of writer was the Frenchman, Montaigne. 
He hves to-day as the author of one hundred and Montaigne 
seven essays, very delightful in style and full of wit 1533-1592 
and wisdom. Montaigne really invented the essay, ' ' 
a form of literature in which he has had many imitators. 



6o4 



The Renaissance 



1340 (?)- 
1400 A.D. 



Geoffrey Chaucer, who has been called the "morning star" of 
the English Renaissance, was a story-teller in verse. His 
Chaucer Canterbury Tales are supposed to be told by a 

company of pilgrims, as they journey from London 
to the shrine of Thomas Becket at Canterbury. ^ 
Chaucer describes freshly and with unfailing good spirits the 
life of the middle and upper classes. He does not reveal, any 
more than his contemporary Froissart, the labor and sorrows 

of the down-trodden peasantry. 
But Chaucer was a true poet, 
and his name stands high in 
England's long roll of men of 
letters. 

This survey of the national 
authors of the Renaissance may 
fitly close with William Shake- 
Shakespeare, speare, whose genius 
1564-1616 transcended national 
' * boundaries and 

made him a citizen of all the 
world. His life is known to us 
only in barest outline. Born at 
Stratford-on-Avon, of humble 

From the copper-plate engraved by parCUtagC, he attended the vil- 
Martin Droeshout as frontispiece to the lagC grammar SChool, wherC he 

learned "small Latin and less 
Greek," went to London as a 
youth, and became an actor and 
a playwright. He prospered, 
made money both from his act- 
ing and the sale of his plays, and at the age of forty-four 
retired to Stratford for the rest of his life. Here he died eight 
years later, and here his grave may still be seen in the village 
church.2 During his residence in London he wrote, in whole 




William SiiAKEsrEARE 



First Foho edition of Shakespeare's works 
in 1623 A.D. In this engraving the head 
is far too large for the body and the dress 
is out of perspective. The only other 
authentic likeness of Shakespeare is the 
bust over his grave in Holy Trinity 
Church. Stratford-on-Avon. 



1 See the illustration, page 442. 

2 The three-hundredth anniversary of Shakespeare's death was appropriately 
observed in 1916 a.d. throughout the world. 



The Renaissance in Literature 



605 



or in part, thirty-six or thirty-seven dramas, both tragedies 
and comedies. They were not collected and pubhshed until 
several years after his death. Shakespeare's plays were read 
and praised by his contemporaries, but it has remained for 
modern men to see in him one who ranks with Homer, Vergil, 
Dante, and Goethe among the great poets of the world. 




Shakespeare's Birthplace, Stratford-on-Avon 

The house in which Shakespeare was bom has been much altered in exterior appearance 
since the poet's day. The timber framework, the floors, most of the interior walls, and the 
cellars remain, however, substantially unchanged. The illustration shows the appearance of 
the house before the restoration made in 1857 a.d. 



Renaissance poets and prose writers revealed themselves in 
their books. In the same way the sculptors and painters of 
the Renaissance worked out their own ideas and personality in 
emotions in their masterpieces. This personal Renaissance 
note affords a sharp contrast to the anonymity of 
the Middle Ages. We do not know the authors of the Song 
of Roland, the Nihelungenlied, and Reynard the Fox, any more 
than we know the builders of the Gothic cathedrals. Medieval 
literature subordinated the individual; that of the Renaissance 
expressed the sense of individuality and man's interest in him- 
self. It was truly "humanistic." 



6o6 The Renaissance 



215. The Renaissance in Education 

The universities of the Middle Ages emphasized scholastic 
philosophy, though in some institutions law and medicine also 
Humanism received much attention. Greek, of course, was 
^and educa- not taught, the vernacular languages of Europe 
were not studied, and neither science nor history 
enjoyed the esteem of the learned. The Renaissance brought 
about a partial change in this curriculum. The classical lan- 
guages and literatures, after some opposition, gained an en- 
trance into university courses and. displaced scholastic philosophy 
as the chief subject of instruction. From the universities the 
study of the ''humanities" descended to the lower schools, where 
they still hold a leading place. 

An Italian humanist, Vittorino da Feltre, was the pioneer of 
Renaissance education. In his private school at Mantua, the 
Vittorino da ''House of Dehght," as it was called, Vittorino 
Feltre, 1378- aimed to develop at the same time the body, 
mind, and character of his pupils, so as to fit them 
to "serve God in Church and State." Accordingly, he gave 
much attention to religious instruction and also set a high 
value on athletics. The sixty or seventy young men under his 
care were taught to hunt and fish, to run and jump, to wrestle 
and fence, to walk gracefully, and above all things to be temper- 
ate. For intellectual training he depended on the Latin classics 
as the best means of introducing students to the literature, 
art, and philosophy of ancient times. Vittorino's name is not 
widely known to-day; he left no writings, preferring, as he 
said, to live in the lives of his pupils; but there is scarcely a 
modern teacher who does not consciously or unconsciously 
follow his methods. More than anyone else, he is responsible 
for the educational system which has prevailed in Europe almost 
to the present day. 

It cannot be said that the influence of humanism on educa- 
A" classical tion was wholly good. Henceforth the Greek and 
education" Latin languages and literatures became the chief 
instruments of culture. Educators neglected the great world of 



The Scientific Renaissance 607 

nature and of human life which lay outside the writings of the 
ancients. This ''bookishness" formed a real defect of Renais- 
sance systems of training. 

A Moravian bishop named Comenius, who gave his long life 
almost wholly to teaching, stands for a reaction against human- 
istic education. He proposed that the vernacular comenius 
tongues, as well as the classics, should be made 1592-1671 
subjects of study. For this purpose he prepared 
a reading book, which was translated into a dozen European 
languages, and even into Arabic, Persian, and Turkish. Come- 
nius also believed that the curriculum should include the study 
of geography, world history, and government, and the practice 
of the manual arts. He was one of the first to advocate the 
teaching of science. Perhaps his most notable idea was that of 
a national system of education, reaching from primary grades 
to the university. ^'Not only," he writes, "are the children of 
the rich and noble to be drawn to school, but all ahke, rich and 
poor, boys and girls, in great towns and small, down to the 
country villages." The influence of this Slavic teacher is more 
and more felt in modern systems of education. 



216. The Scientific Renaissance 

The Middle Ages were not by any means ignorant of science,^ 
but its study naturally received a great impetus when the 
Renaissance brought before educated men all that Humanism 
the Greeks and Romans had done in mathematics, and 
physics, astronomy, medicine, and other subjects. 
The invention of printing also fostered the scientific revival by 
making it easy to spread knowledge abroad in every land. The 
pioneers of Renaissance science were Italians, but students in 
France, England, Germany, and other countries soon took up 
the work of enlightenment. 

The names of some Renaissance scientists stand as land- 
marks in the history of thought. The first place must be given 
to Copernicus, the founder of modern astronomy. He was a 

1 See page 572. 



6o8 . The Renaissance 

Pole, but lived many years in Italy. Patient study and 

n ^^-..c calculation led him to the conclusion that the 
Copernicus, 

1473-1543 earth turns upon its own axis, and, together with 
' * the planets, revolves around the sun. The book 

in which he announced this conclusion did not appear until 
the very end of his hfe. A copy of it reached him on his 
deathbed. 

Medieval astronomers had generally accepted the Ptolemaic 
system.^ Some students before Copernicus had indeed sug- 
The Coper- gested that the earth and planets might rotate 
nican theory about a central sun, but he first gave reasons for 
such a belief. The new^ theory met much opposition, not only 
in the universities, which clung to the time-honored Ptolemaic 
system, but also among theologians, who thought that it con- 
tradicted many statements in the Bible. Moreover, people 
could not easily reconcile themselves to the idea that the earth, 
instead of being the center of the universe, is only one member 
of the solar system, that it is, in fact, only a mere speck of 
cosmic dust. 

An Italian scientist, Galileo, made one of the first telescopes 
— it was about as powerful as an opera glass — and turned it on 
Galileo ^^^ heavenly bodies with wonderful results. He 

1564-1642 found the sun moving unmistakeably on its axis, 
■ ' Venus showing phases according to her position in 

relation to the sun, Jupiter accompanied by revolving moons, 
or satellites, and the Milky Way composed of a multitude of 
separate stars. Galileo rightly beheved that these discoveries 
confirmed the theory of Copernicus. 

Another man of genius, the German Kepler, worked out the 
mathematical law^s which govern the movements of the planets. 
Kepler, 1571- He made it clear that the planets revolve around 
1630 A.D. ^i^Q c,un in elliptical instead of circular orbits. 

Kepler's investigations afterwards led to the discovery of the 
principle of gravitation. 

Two other scientists did epochal work in a field far removed 
from astronomy. Vesalius, a Fleming, who studied in Italian 

1 See page 133. 



The Economic Renaissance 609 

medical schools, gave to the world the first careful description 
of the human body based on actual dissection, vesalius 
He was thus the founder of human anatomy. 1514-1564 
Harvey, an Englishman, after observing living ani- Harvey, 
mals, announced the discovery of the circulation of 1578-1657 
the blood. He thereby founded human physiology. 

Copernicus, Gahleo, Kepler, VesaUus, Harvey, and their 
fellow workers built up the scientific method. In the Middle 
Ages students had mostly been satisfied to accept ^j^^ 
what Aristotle and other philosophers had said, scientific 
without trying to prove their statements.^ Kepler, 
for instance, was the first to disprove the Aristotelian idea that, 
as all perfect motion is circular, therefore the heavenly bodies 
must move in circular orbits. Similarly, the world had to wait 
many centuries before Harvey showed Aristotle's error in sup- 
posing that the blood arose in the liver, went thence to the 
heart, and by the veins was conducted over the body. The 
nev/ scientific method rested on observation and experiment. 
Students learned at length to take nothing for granted, to set 
aside all authority, and to go straight to nature for their facts. 
As Lord Bacon,2 one of Shakespeare's contemporaries and a 
severe critic of the old scholasticism, declared, ''AH depends on 
keeping the eye steadily fixed upon the facts of nature, and so 
receiving their images simply as they are, for God forbid that 
we should give out a dream of our own imagination for a pattern 
of the world." Modern science, to which we owe so much, is 
a product of the Renaissance. 

217. The Economic Renaissance 

Thus far the Renaissance has been studied as an intellectual 
and artistic movement, which did much to hberate the human 
mind and brought the Middle Ages to an end in An economic 
Hterature, in art, and in science. It is necessary, change 
however, to consider the Renaissance era from another point of 

1 See page 571. 

2 Not to be confused with his countryman, Roger Bacon, who lived in the thir- 
teenth century. See page 573. 



6io The Renaissance 

view. During this time an economic change of vast significance 
was taking place in rural Ufe all over western Europe. We 
refer to the decline and ultimate extinction of medieval serfdom. 

Serfdom imposed a burden only less heavy than the slavery 
which it had displaced. The serf, as has been shown/ might 
Decline of not leave the manor in which he was born, he 
serfdom niight not Sell his holdings of land, and, finally, 

he had to give up a large part of his time to work without pay 
for the lord of the manor. This system of forced labor was at 
once unprofitable to the lord and irksome to his serfs. After 
the revival of trade and industry in the twelfth and thirteenth 
centuries had brought more money into circulation,^ the lord 
discovered how much better it was to hire men to work for 
him, as he needed them, instead of depending on serfs who 
shirked their tasks as far as possible. The latter, in turn, 
were glad to pay the lord a fixed sum for the use of land, since 
now they could devote themselves entirely to its cultivation. 
Both parties gained by an arrangement which converted the 
manorial lord into a landlord and the serf into a free tenant- 
farmer paying rent. 

The emancipation of the peasantry was hastened, strangely 
enough, as the result of perhaps the most terrible calamity that 
The " Black has ever affiicted mankind. About the middle 
Death" Qf ^j^g fourteenth century a pestilence of Asiatic 

origin, now known' to have been the bubonic plague, reached 
the West.^ The ''Black Death," so called because among its 
symptoms were dark patches all over the body, moved steadily 
across Europe. The w^ay for its ravages had been prepared by 
the unhealthful conditions of ventilation and drainage in towns 
and cities. After attacking Greece, Sicily, Italy, Spain, 
France, and Germany, the plague entered England in 1349 a.d. 
and within less than two years swept away probably half the 
population of that country. The mortality elsewhere was 
enormous, one estimate setting it as high as twenty-five milHons 
for all Europe. 

1 See page 436. « See page 541. 

» A similar plague devastated the Roman world during the reign of Justinian. 



The Economic Renaissance 6ii 

The pestilence in England, as in other countries, caused a 

great scarcity of labor. For want of hands to bring in the 

harvest, crops rotted on the ground, while sheep Ejects of the 

and cattle, with no one to care for them, strayed " Black 

Death " 
through the deserted fields. The free peasants 

who survived demanded and received higher wages. Even 
the serfs, whose labor was now more valued, found themselves 
in a better position. The lord of a manor, in order to keep 
his laborers, would often allow them to substitute money 
payments for personal services. When the serfs got no con- 
cessions, they frequently took to flight and hired themselves to 
the highest bidder. 

The governing classes of England, who at this time were 
mainly landowners, believed that the workers were taking an 
unfair advantage of the situation. So in 13 51 pj^.^^ statute 
A.D. Parliament passed a law fixing the maximum of Laborers, 
wage in different occupations and punishing with 
imprisonment those who refused to accept work when it was 
offered to them. The fact that Parliament had to reenact this 
law thirteen times within the next century shows that it did not 
succeed in preventing a general rise of wages. It only exasper- 
ated the working classes. 

A few years after the first Statute of Laborers the restlessness 
and discontent among the masses led to a serious outbreak. It 
was one of the few attempts at violent revolution 
which the English working people have made. Peasants' 
One of the inspirers of the rebellion was a wander- !\^j?/^a°^' 
ing priest named John Ball. He went about 
preaching that all goods should be held in common and the 
distinction between lords and serfs wiped away. ''When 
Adam delved and Eve span, who was then the gentleman?" 
asked John Ball. Uprisings occurred in nearly every part 
of England, but the one in Kent had most importance. 
The rioters marched on London and presented their demands 
to the youthful king, Richard 11. He promised to abolish 
serfdom and to give them a free pardon. As soon, however, 
as Richard had gathered an army, he put down the revolt 



6l2 



The Renaissance 



The 

Jacquerie, 
1358 A.D. 

Years' 



by force and hanged John Ball and about a hundred of his 
followers. 

The rebellion in England may be compared with the far 
more terrible Jacquerie ^ in France, a few years earlier. The 

French peasants, who suf- 
fered from feudal pppres- 
sion and the 
effects of the 
Hundred 
War, raged 
through the land, burning 
the castles and murdering 
their feudal lords. The 
movement had scarcely 
any reasonable purpose ; 
it w^as an outburst of 
blind passion. The nobles 
avenged themselves by 
slaughtering the peasants 
in great numbers. 

Though these first great 
struggles of labor against 
Extinction capital were 
of serfdom failures, the 
emancipation of the peas- 
antry wxnt steadily on 
throughout the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. By 1500 
A.D. serfdom had virtually disappeared in Italy, in most parts 
of France, and in England. Some less-favored countries re- 
tained serfdom much longer. Prussian, Austrian, and Russian 
serfs did not receive their freedom until the nineteenth century. 
The extinction of serfdom was, of course, a forward step in 
human freedom, but the lot of the English and Continental 
Condition of peasantry long remained wretched. The poem 
the peasantry ^f pi^r^ Plowman, wTitten in the time of Chaucer, 
shows the misery of the age and reveals a very different picture 

1 From Jacques, a common French name for a peasant. 




Richard II 

After an engraving based on the original in West- 
minster Abbey. Probably the oldest authentic por 
trait in England. 



The Economic Renaissance 613 

than that of the gay, hoHday-making, merry England seen in 
the Canterbury Tales. One hundred and fifty years later, the 
English humanist, Sir Thomas More, a friend of Erasmus, 
published his Utopia as a protest against social abuses. Utopia, 
or ''Nowhere," is an imaginary country whose inhabitants 
choose their own rulers, hold all property in common, and work 
only nine hours a day. In Utopia a pubHc system of education 
prevails, cruel punishments are unknown, and every one enjoys 
complete freedom to worship God. This remarkable book, 
though it pictures an ideal commonwealth, really anticipates 
many social reforms of the present time. 

Studies 

I. Prepare a chronological chart showing the leading men of letters, artists, 
scientists, and educators mentioned in this chapter. 2. For what were the follow- 
ing persons noted: Chrysoloras; Vittorino da Feltre; Gutenberg; Boccaccio; 
Machiavelli; Harvey; and Galileo? 3. How did the words " machiaveUism " 
and "Utopian" get their present meanings? 4. Distinguish and define the three 
terms, "Renaissance," "Revival of Learning," and "Humanism." 5. "Next to 
the discovery of the New World, the recovery of the ancient world is the second 
landmark that divides us from the Middle Ages and marks the transition to modem 
life." Comment on this statement. 6. Why did the Renaissance begin as "an 
Italian event"? 7. " City-states have always proved favorable to culture." Illus- 
trate this remark. 8. Why was the revival of Greek more important in the history 
of civilization than the revival of Latin? 9. Show that printing was an "emanci- 
pating force." 10. With what paintings by the "old masters" are you familiar? 
II. How does the opera differ from the oratorio? 12. Why has Froissart been 
styled the "French Herodotus"? 13. How many of Shakespeare's plays can you 
name? How many have you read? 14. Can you mention any of Shakespeare's 
plays which are founded on Itahan stories or whose scenes are laid in Italy? 

15. Why did the classical scholar come to be regarded as the only educated man? 

16. In what respects is the American system of education a realization of the ideals 
of Coraenius? 17. Did the medieval interest in astrology retard or further astro- 
nomical research? 18. How did the discoveries of Galileo and Kepler confirm the 
Copernican theory? 19. What is meant by the "emancipation of the peasantry"? 



CHAPTER XXVI 
GEOGRAPHICAL DISCOVERY AND COLONIZATION ^ 

218. Medieval Geography 

There was also a geographical Renaissance. The revival of 
the exploring spirit led to the discovery of ocean routes to the 
rpjjg Far East and the Americas. In consequence, 

geographical commerce was vastly stimulated, and two con- 
enaissance tinents, hitherto unknown, were opened up to 
civilization. The geographical Renaissance, which gave man 
a New World, thus cooperated with the other movements of 
the age in bringing about' the transition from medieval to 
modern times. 

The Greeks and Romans had become famiUar with a large 
part of Europe and Asia, but much of their learning was either 
Medieval forgotten or perverted during the early Middle 

ignorance of Ages. Even the wonderful discoveries of the 
geography Northmen in the North Atlantic gradually faded 
from memory. The Arabs, whose conquests and commerce 
extended over so much of the Orient, far surpassed the Chris- 
tian peoples of Europe in knowledge of the world. 

The alliance of medieval geography with theology led to 
curious results. Map makers, relying on a passage in the Old 
Geographi- Testament,^ usually placed Jerusalem in the cen- 
cai myths ^gj- gf |-]^g world. A Scriptural reference to the 
''four corners of the earth" ^ was sometimes thought to imply 
the existence of a rectangular world. From classical sources 
came stories of monstrous men, one-eyed, headless, or dog- 
headed, who were supposed to inhabit remote regions. Equally 

1 Webster, Readings in Medieval and Modern History, chapter xxi, "The Travels 
of Marco Polo"; chapter xxii, "The Aborigines of the New World." 

2 Ezekiel, \, $. ^ Isaiah, x, 12. 

614 



Medieval Geography 



615 



monstrous animals, such as the unicorn and dragon/ kept 
them company. Sailors' "yarns" must have been responsible 
for the belief that the ocean boiled at the equator and that in 
the Atlantic — the "Sea of Darkness" — lurked serpents huge 
enough to sink ships. To the real danger of travel by land 
and water people thus added imaginary terrors. 

Many maps prepared in the Middle Ages sum up the pre- 
vailing knowledge, or 
rather igno- The Cosmas 
ranee, of the °^^p 
world. One of the earliest 
specimens that has come 
down to us was made in 
the sixth century, by 
Cosmas, an Alexandrian 
monk. It exhibits the 
earth as a rectangle sur- 




Geographical Monsters 



From an early edition of Sir John Mandeville's 
. , Travels. Shakespeare {Othello, I, iii, 144-145) re- 

rounded by an ocean with fers to 

" The Anthropophagi, and men whose heads 
Do grow beneath their shoulders." 



four deep gulfs. Beyond 

this ocean lies another 

world, the seat of Paradise and the place "where men dwelt 

before the Flood." The rivers which flow from the lakes of 

Paradise are also shown. Figures holding trumpets represent 

the four winds. 

A map made about seven hundred years later, and now pre- 
served in Hereford Cathedral, shows the earth as a circular 
disk with the ocean surrounding it. In the ex- The Hereford 
treme east — that is, at the top — lies Paradise, ™^p 
Jerusalem occupies the center, and below it comes the Medi- 
terranean, liberally supplied with islands. The Black Sea ap- 
pears as a narrow body of water, and even the British Isles 
are strangely distorted to fit the circle. Such a map could 
have been of little use to travelers; it simply satisfied a natural 
curiosity about the wonders of the world. 

The crusades, more than anything else, first extended geo- 
graphical knowledge. As a religious movement they led to 

1 See pages 574-575- 



6i6 Geographical Discovery and Colonization 

pilgrimages and missions in Oriental lands. With the pilgrims 
opening up and missionaries went hard-headed traders, who 
of Asia brought back to Europe the wealth of the East. 

The result, by 1300 a.d., was to open up countries beyond 
the Euphrates which had remained sealed to Europe for cen- 
turies. This discovery of the interior of Asia had only less 
importance than that of the New World two centuries later. 

What specially drew explorers eastward was the belief that 
somewhere in the center of Asia existed a great Christian 
Legend of kingdom which, if allied to European Christen- 
Prester John dom, might attack the Moslems from the rear. 
According to one form of the story the kingdom consisted of 
the Ten Tribes of Israel,^ who had been converted to Chris- 
tianity by Nestorian missionaries. ^ Over them reigned a 
priest-king named Prester (or Presbyter) John. The popes 
made several attempts to communicate with this mythical 
ruler. In the thirteenth century, however, Franciscan friars 
did penetrate to the heart of Asia. They returned to Europe 
with marvelous tales of the wealth and splendor of the East 
under the Mongol emperors. 

The most famous of all medieval travelers were Nicolo and 
Maffeo Polo, and Nicolo's son, Marco. These Venetian mer- 
chants set out for Asia in 1271 a.d., and after 
the East, an adventurous journey reached the court of 

1271-1295 Kublai Khan at Peking.^ The Mongol ruler, who 
seems to have been anxious to introduce Chris- 
tianity and European culture among his people, received them 
in a friendly manner, and they amassed much wealth by trade. 
Marco entered the khan's service and went on several expedi- 
tions to distant parts of the Mongol realm. Many years passed 
before Kublai would allow his useful guests to return to Europe. 
They sailed at length from Zaitun, a Chinese seaport, skirted 
the coast of southeastern Asia and India, and then made their 
way overland to the Mediterranean. When the travelers 
reached Venice after an absence of twenty-four years, their 
relatives were slow to recognize in them the long-lost Polos. 

1 See page 35. « See page 347. ^ See page 488. 



Medieval Geography 



617 



The Earth beyond the Ocean where men dwelt before the Flood 




The Earth beyond the Ocean. 



The "World according to Cosmas Indicopxeustes, 535 A.D. 




•■^EFoRD Map, ^"^^ 
Geographical Knowledge during the Middle Ages 



6i8 Geographical Discovery and Colonization 

The story of the Polos, as written down at Marco's dictation^ 
became one of the most popular works of the Middle Ages. 
Marco In this book Europe read of far Cathay (China), 

Polo's book ^[i\^ its wealth, its huge cities, and swarming 
population, of mysterious and secluded Tibet, of Burma, Siam, 
and Cochin-China, with their palaces and pagodas, of the East 
Indies, famed for spices, of Ceylon, abounding in pearls, and 
of India, little known since the days of Alexander the Great. 
Even Cipango (Japan) Marco described from hearsay as an 
island whose people were white, civilized, and so rich in gold 
that the royal palace w^as roofed and paved with that metal. 
The accounts of these countries naturally made Europeans more 
eager than ever to reach the East. 

219. Aids to Exploration 

The new knowledge gained by European peoples about the 
land routes of Asia was accompanied by much progress in the 
The com- art of ocean navigation. First in importance came 
P^ss the compass to guide explorers across the waters 

of the world. The Chinese appear to have discovered that 
a needle, when rubbed with a lodestone, has the mysterious 
power of pointing to the north. The Arabs may have intro- 
duced this rude form of the compass among Mediterranean 
sailors. The instrument, improved by being balanced on a 
pivot so that it would not be affected by choppy seas, seems to 
have been generally used by European^ as early as the thir- 
teenth century. It greatly aided sailors by enabling them to 
find their bearings in murky w^eather and on starless nights. 
The compass, though useful, was not indispensable; without 
its help the Northmen had made their distant expeditions in 
the Atlantic. 

The astrolabe, which the Greeks had invented and used for 
astronomical purposes, also came into Europe through the 
Nautical in- Arabs. It was employed to calculate latitudes by 
stniments observation of the height of the sun above the 
horizon. Other instruments that found a place on shipboard 
were the hour-glass, minute-glass, and sun-dial. A rude form 



Aids to Exploration 



619 




An Astrolabe 



of the log was used as a means of estimating the speed of a 
vessel, and so of finding roughly the longitude. 

During the last centuries of the Middle Ages the charting 
of coasts became a science. A sailor might rely on the ''handy 
maps" (portolani) other im- 
which outlined with provements 

1 , in navigation 

some approach to ac- 
curacy the bays, islands, and head- 
lands of the Mediterranean and 
adjacent waters. Manuals were 
prepared telling the mariner about 
the tides, currents, and other fea- 
tures of the route he intended to 
follow. The increase in size of 
ships made navigation safer and 
permitted the storage of bulky car- 
goes. For long voyages the sailing 
vessel replaced the medieval galley 
rowed by oars. As the result of 
all these improvements navigators no longer found it necessary 
to keep close to the shore, but could push out dauntlessly into 
the open sea. 

Many motives prompted exploration. Scientific curiosity, 
bred of the Renaissance spirit of free inquiry, led men to set 
forth on voyages of discovery. The crusading Motives for 
spirit, which had not died out in Europe, exploration 
thrilled at the thought of spreading Christianity among heathen 
peoples. And in this age, as in all epochs of exploration, ad- 
venturers sought in distant lands opportunities to acquire 
wealth and fame and power. 

Commerce formed perhaps the most powerful motive for explo- 
ration. Eastern spices — cinnamon, pepper, cloves, nutmeg, and 
ginger — were used more freely in medieval times -j^j^^ 
than now, when people lived on salt meat during commercial 
the winter and salt fish during Lent. Even wine, 
ale, and medicines had a seasoning of spices. When John Ball ^ 

1 See page 611. 



620 Geographical Discovery and Colonization 

wished to contrast the easy life of the lords with the peasants' 
hard lot, he said, ''They have wines, spices, and fine bread, 
while we have only rye and the refuse of the straw." ^ Besides 
spices, all kinds of precious stones, drugs, perfumes, gums, dyes, 
and fragrant woods came from the East. Since the time of 
the crusades these luxuries, after having been brought overland 
by water to Mediterranean ports, had been distributed by Ve- 
netian and Genoese merchants throughout Europe.^ But now 
in the fifteenth century two other European peoples — the 
Portuguese and Spaniards — appeared as competitors for this 
Oriental trade. Their efforts to break through the mo- 
nopoly enjoyed by the Italian cities led to the discovery of 
the sea routes to the Indies. The Portuguese were first in 
the field. 

220. To the Indies Eastward: Prince Henry and 
Da Gama 

In the history of the fifteenth century few names rank higher 
than that of Prince Henry, commonly called the Navigator, 
Prince because of his services to the cause of exploration. 

Henry the 'pj^^g gQj^ q{ ^ Portuguese king, he devoted himself 

Navigator, . i p ... 

1394-1460 during more than forty years to orgamzmg scien- 

^•^* tific discovery. Under his direction better maps 

were made, the astrolabe was improved, the compass was 
placed on vessels, and seamen were instructed in all the nautical 
learning of the time. The problem which Prince Henry studied 
and which Portuguese sailors finally solved was the possibility 
of a maritime route around Africa to the Indies. 

The expeditions sent out by Prince Henry began by redis- 
covering the Madeira and Azores Islands, first visited by 

„ , , Europeans in the fourteenth century. Then the 

Exploration ^ i i i i , 

of the Portuguese turned southward along the unchar- 

African tered African coast. In 1445 a.d. they got as 

far as Cape Verde, or "Green Cape," so called 

because of its luxuriant vegetation. The discovery was im- 

1 Froissart, Chronicles, ii, 73. ^ See page 540. 



Prince Henry and Da Gama 



621 



portant, for it disposed of the idea that the Sahara desert 
extended indefinitely to the south. Sierra Leone, which the 
Carthaginian Hanno ^ had probably visited, was reached in 
1462 A.D., two years after Prince Henry's death. Soon Portu- 
guese sailors found the great bend of the African coast formed 
by the gulf of Guinea. In 147 1 a.d. they crossed the equator, 
without the scorching that some 
had feared. In 1482 a.d. they 
were at the mouth of the Congo. 
Six years later Bartholomew Diaz 
rounded the southern extremity 
of Africa. The story goes that he 
named it the Cape of Storms, and 
that the king of Portugal, recog- 
nizing its importance as a stage 
on the route to the East, rechris- 
tened it the Cape of Good Hope. 
A daring mariner, Vasco da 
Gama, opened the sea-gates to 

the Indies. With ^ ^ 

Da Gama's 
four tiny ships he voyage, 

set sail from Lisbon 

in July, 1497 A.D., 

and after leaving the Cape Verde Vasco da Gama 

Islands made a wide sweep into From a manuscript in the British Museum. 

the South Atlantic. Five months passed before Africa was 
seen again. Having doubled the Cape of Good Hope in safety, 
Da Gama skirted the eastern shores of Africa and at length 
secured the services of a Moslem pilot to guide him across 
the Indian Ocean. In May, 1498 a.d., he reached Calicut,^ 
an important commercial city on the southwest coast of 
India. When Da Gama returned to Lisbon, after an absence 
of over two years, he brought back a cargo which repaid 
sixty times the cost of the expedition. The Portuguese king 
received him with high honor and created him Admiral of the 
Indies. 

* See page 49, * Not Calcutta. 



1497-1499 
A.D. 




622 Geographical Discovery and Colonization 

The story of Da Gama's memorable voyage was sung by 

the Portuguese poet, Camoens, in the Lusiads. It is the most 

successful of all modern epics. The popularity 
Camoens, r ^ ^ - i -i i ^ ^ i- i 

1524-1580 of the Lusiads has done much to keep ahve the 

A.D., and sense of nationality among the Portuguese, and 

the Lusiads , . ^ i i r • i - 

even to-day it forms a bond of union between 

Portugal and her daughter-nation across the Atlantic — 

Brazil. 

The discovery of an ocean passage to the East came at the 

right moment. Just at this time the Ottoman Turks were 

Significance beginning to block up the old trade routes.^ 

of the mari- Their conquests in Asia Minor and southeastern 

time route Europe, during the fifteenth century, shut out 

the Italians from the northern route through the ^Egean and 

the Black Sea. After Syria and Egypt were conquered, early 

in the sixteenth century, the central and southern routes also 

passed under Turkish control. The Ottoman advance struck 

a mortal blow at the prosperity of the Italian cities, which had 

so long monopolized Oriental trade. But the misfortune of 

Venice and Genoa was the opportunity of Portugal. 

221. The Portuguese Colonial Empire 

After Da Gama's voyage the Portuguese made haste to 
appropriate the wealth of the Indies. Fleet after fleet was 
Portu ese ^^^^ ^^^ ^^ establish trading stations upon the 
ascendancy coasts of Africa and Asia. The great viceroy, 
in the East Albuquerque, captured the city of Goa and made 
it the center of the Portuguese dominions in India. Goa still 
belongs to Portugal. Albuquerque also seized Malacca, at 
the end of the Malay Peninsula, and Ormuz, at the entrance 
to the Persian Gulf. The possession of these strategic points 
enabled the Portuguese to control the commerce of the Indian 
Ocean. They also established trading relations with China, 
through the port of Macao, and with Japan, which was 
accidentally discovered in 1542 a.d. By the middle of the 

1 See page 540. 



The Portuguese Colonial Empire 623 

sixteenth century they had acquired almost complete ascend- 
ancy throughout southern Asia and the adjacent islands.^ 

The Portuguese came to the East as the successors of the 
Arabs, who for centuries had carried on an extensive trade in 
the Indian Ocean. Having dispossessed the Arabs, Portuguese 
the Portuguese took care to shut out all European trade 
competitors. Only their own merchants were al- ™°^°P°y 
lowed to bring goods from the Indies to Europe by the Cape 
route. For a time this poUcy made Portugal very prosperous. 
Lisbon, the capital, formed the chief depot for spices and other 
eastern commodities. The French, EngHsh, and Dutch came 
there to buy them and took the place of Italian merchants 
in distributing them throughout Europe. 

But the triumph of Portugal was short-hved. This small 

country, with a population of not more than a million, lacked 

the strength to defend her claims to a monopoly 

of the Oriental trade. During the seventeenth of the 

century the French and English broke the power Portuguese 

Empire 
of the Portuguese in India, while the Dutch drove 

them from Ceylon and the East Indies. Though the Portu- 
guese lost most of their possessions so soon, they deserve a 
tribute of admiration for the energy, enthusiasm, and real 
heroism with which they built up the first of modern colonial 
empires. 

The new world in the East, thus entered by the Portuguese 
and later by other European peoples, was really an old world — • 
rich, populous, and civilized. It held out alluring Europe in 
possibilities, not only for trade, but also as a field ^^** 
for missionary enterprise. Da Gama and Albuquerque began 
a movement, which still continues, to "westernize" Asia by 
opening it up to European influence. It remains to be seen, 
however, whether India, China, and Japan will allow their 
ancient culture to be extinguished by that of Europe. 

1 The Portuguese colonial ernpire included Ormuz, the west coast of India, 
Ceylon, Malacca, and various possessions in the Malay Archipelago (Sumatra, 
Java, Celebes, the Moluccas, or Spice Islands, and New Guinea). The Portu- 
guese also had many trading posts on the African coast, besides Brazil, which 
one of their mariners discovered in 1500 a*d. See the map between pages 628-629. 



624 Geographical Discovery and Colonization 

222. To the Indies Westward: Columbus and 
Magellan 

Six years before Vasco da Gama cast anchor in the harbor of 
CaUcut, another intrepid sailor, seeking the Indies by a west- 
^j^g ern route, accidentally discovered America. It 

globular does not detract from the glory of Columbus to 

®°^^ show that the way for his discovery had been 

long in preparation. In the first place, the theory that the 
earth was round had been familiar to the Greeks and Romans,, 
and to some learned men even in the darkest period of the 
Middle Ages. By the opening of the thirteenth century it 
must have been commonly known, for Roger Bacon ^ refers 
to it, and Dante, in the Divine Comedy,^ plans his Inferno on 
the supposition of a spherical world. The awakening of in- 
terest in Greek science, as a result of the Renaissance, naturally 
called renewed attention to the statements by ancient geog- 
raphers. Eratosthenes,^ for instance, had clearly recognized 
the possibihty of reaching India by sailing westward on the 
same parallel of latitude. Especially after the revival of 
Ptolemy's^ works in the fifteenth century, scholars accepted 
the globular theory; and they even went so far as to calculate 
the circumference of the earth. 

In the second place, men had long believed that west of 
Europe, beyond the strait of Gibraltar, lay mysterious lands. 
Myth of This notion first appears in the writings of the 

Atlantis Greek philosopher, Plato,^ who repeats an old 

tradition concerning Atlantis. According to Plato, Atlantis 
had been an island continental in size, but more than nine 
thousand years before his time it had sunk beneath the sea. 
Medieval writers accepted this account as true and found 
support for it in traditions of other western islands, such as 
the Isles of the Blest, where Greek heroes went after death, 
and the Welsh Avalon, whither King Arthur, ^ after his last 

1 See page 573. ^ See page 591. ' ^ See page 133. 

* A Latin translation of Ptolemy's Geography, accompanied by maps, was printed 
for the first time probably in 1462 a.d. 

^ See page 275. ^ See page 560. 



Columbus and Magellan 



625 



battle, was borne to heal his wounds. A widespread legend 
of the Middle Ages also described the visit made by St. 
Brandan, an Irish monk, to the ''promised land of the Saints," 
an earthly paradise far out in the Atlantic. St. B randan's 
Island was marked on early maps, and voyages in search of 
it were sometimes undertaken. 




Behaim's G.lobe 

The outlines of North America and South America do not appear on the original globe. 

The ideas of European geographers in the period just pre- 
ceding the discovery of America are represented on a map, 
or rather a globe, which dates from 1492 a.d. It Behaim's 
was made by a German navigator, Martin Behaim, slobe 
for his native city of Nuremberg, where it is still preserved. 
Behaim shows the mythical island of St. Brandan, lying in 



626 Geographical Discovery and Colonization 



mid-ocean, and beyond it Japan (Cipango) and the East Indies. 
It is clear that he greatly underestimated the distance westward 
between Europe and Asia. The error was natural enough, 
for Ptolemy had reckoned the earth's circumference to be about 
one-sixth less than it is, and Marco Polo had given an exagger- 
ated idea of the distance to 
which Asia extended on the 
east. When Columbus set out 
on his voyage, he firmly be- 
lieved that a journey of four 
thousand miles would bring 
him to Cipango. 

Christopher Columbus was a 
native of Genoa, where his 
Columbus. father followed 
1446 (?)- 1506 the humble trade 

A. D. r TT 

of a weaver. He 
seems to have obtained some 
knowledge of astronomy and 
geography as a student in the 
university of Pavia, but at an 
early age he became a sailor. 
Columbus knew the Mediter- 
ranean by heart; he once went to the Guinea coast; and he may 
have visited Iceland. He settled at Lisbon as a map-maker and 
married a daughter of one of Prince Henry's sea-captains. As 
Columbus pored over his maps and charts and talked with sea- 
men about their voyages, the idea came to him that much of the 
world remained undiscovered and that the distant East could 
be reached by a shorter route than that which led around Africa. 
Columbus was a w^ll-read man, and in Aristotle, Ptolemy, 
and other ancient authorities he found apparent confirmation 
Researches ^^ ^^^ grand idea. Columbus also owned a printed 
copy of Marco Polo's book, and from his comments, 
written on the margin, we know how interested 
he was in Polo's statements referring to Cathay and Cipango. 
Furthermore, Columbus brought together all the information 




Christopher Columbus 

Biblioteca Nacional, Madrid 
The oldest known portrait of Columbus. 



of 
Columbus 



Columbus and Magellan 



627 



he could get about the fabled islands of the Atlantic. If he 

ever went to Iceland, some vague traditions may have reached 

him there of Norse voyages to 

Greenland and Vinland. Such 

hints and rumors strengthened his 

purpose to sail toward the setting 

sun in quest of the Indies. 

All know the story. How Co- 
lumbus first laid his plans before 
the king of Portugal, ^.^^^ ^^y^g^ 
only to meet with re- of Columbus, 
buffs; how he then 
went to Spain and after many dis- 
couragements found a patron in 
Queen Isabella; how with three 
small ships he set out from Palos, 



1492 A.D. ^ 




August 3, 1492 A.D.; how after 



i&c^mm:^ 



Isabella 

leaving the Canaries he 
sailed week after week over an unknown sea; and how at last, 
on the early morning of October 12, he sighted in the moon- 
light the glittering coral strand of 
one of the Bahama Islands.^ It 
was the New World. 

Columbus made three other 
voyages to the New World, in the 
course of which he explored the 
Caribbean Sea, the subsequent 
mouth of the Orinoco voyages of 
River, and the eastern Columbus 
coast of Central America. He 
lived and died in the behef that 
he had actually reached the 
mainland of Asia and the realms 

of the Great Khan of Cathay. 
Ship of 1492 a.d. ^j^^ ^^^^ ^^^^ ^^^.^^ ^^.^^ ^^_ 

mains as a testimony to this error. 




1 Named San Salvador by Columbus and usually identified with Watling 
Island. 



628 Geographical Discovery and Colonization 

The New World was named for a Florentine navigator, 
Amerigo Vespucci.^ While in the Spanish service he made 
Naming of Several western voyages and printed an account . 
America ^f }^is discovery of the mainland of America in 

1497 A.D. Scholars now generally reject his statements, but 
they found acceptance at the time, and it was soon suggested 

Nunc vcro & heg partes Cintlatius luftratsc/ 8C 

alia quarta pars per Amcricii Vcfputiumc vt iafe 

^^g quentibus auclietur)inucnta eftrquanon video cut 

AtSic^ quis iurc vetct ab Americo inucntore lagads inge 

xico nfj viro Amcrigcn quafi Ameridierram/ilue Amc 

licam dicendamtcum 8^ Europa 8C Afla a mulien^ 

bus fuafordtaiint nomina.Eius fitu 8c gentis mo^ 

les exBis1}inis.Aniendnauigationibus quf (eqaa 

turliquideintelligiLdatur. 

The Name "America" 

Facsimile of the passage in the Cosmo graphics Introductio (1507). by Martin 
Waldseemiiller, in which the name " America" is proposed for the New World. 

that the new continent should be called America, "because 
Americus discovered it." The name applied at first only to 
South America. After it became certain that South America 
joined another continent to the north, the name spread over 
the whole New World. 

Shortly after the return of Columbus from his first voyage, 
Pope Alexander VI, in response to a request by Ferdinand and 
The demar- Isabella, issued a bull granting these sovereigns ex- 
cation line, elusive rights over the newly discovered lands. In 
1493 A.D. ^^^^^ ^^^^ ^^^ Spanish possessions should be clearly 
marked off from the Portuguese, the pope laid down an imagi- 
nary line of demarcation in the Atlantic, three hundred miles 
west of the Azores. All new discoveries west of the line were 
to belong to Spain; all those east of it, to Portugal.^ But this 

1 In Latin, Americus Vespucius. 

2 In 1494 A.D. the demarcation line was shifted about eight hundred miles 
farther to the west. Six years later, when the Portuguese discovered Brazil, the 
country was found to lie within their sphere of influence. 



140° 120° 




140°Longitude 120° West 




0°Longitude 20° East 40° from 60°Greenwich 80° 



Columbus and Magellan 



629 



Ferdinand 
Magellan, 
1480 (?) - 
1521 A.D. 

Ferdinand 




arrangement, which excluded France, England, and other 
European countries from the New World, could not be long 
maintained. 

The demarcation line had a good deal to do in bringing 
about the first voyage around the globe. So far no one had 
^et realized the 
dream of Columbus 
to reach the lands 
of spice and silk by 
sailing westward 
Magellan, formerly one of Albu- 
querque's lieutenants but now 
in the service of Spain, believed 
that the Spice Islands lay within 
the Spanish sphere of influence 
and that an all-Spanish route, 
leading to them through some 
strait at the southern end of 
South America, could be dis- 
covered. 

The Spanish ruler, Charles V, 
grandson of the Isabella who had supported Columbus, looked 
with favor upon Magellan's ideas and gave him 
a fleet of five vessels for the undertaking. After 
exploring the east coast of South America, Ma- 
gellan came at length to the strait which bears 
his name. Through this channel he sailed boldly 
and found himself upon an ocean which he called the Pacific, 
because of its peaceful aspect. Magellan's sailors now begged 
him to return, for food was getting scarce, but the navigator 
rephed that he would go on, "if he had to eat the leather off 
the rigging." He did go on, for ninety-eight days, untfl he 
reached the Ladrone Islands.^ By a curious chance, in ah this 
long trip across the Pacific, MageUan came upon only two 
islands, both of them uninhabited. He then proceeded to 

1 Also known as the Mariannes. Magellan called them the Ladrones (Spanish 
ladrdn, a robber), because of the thievish habits of the natives. 



Ferdinand Magellan 

From a portrait formerly in the Ver- 
sailles Gallery, Paris. 



Circumnavi- 
gation of 
the globe, 
1519-1522 
A.D. 



630 Geographical Discovery and Colonization 

the Philippines, where he was killed in a fight with the natives. 
His men, however, managed to reach the Spice Islands, the goal 
of the journey. Afterwards a single ship, the Victoria, carried 
back to Spain the few sailors who had survived the hardships 
of a voyage lasting nearly three years. 

Magellan's voyage forms a landmark in the history of geog- 
raphy. It proved that America, at least on the south, had 
Meaning of ^^ Connection with Asia; it showed the enormous 
the circum- extent of the Pacific Ocean; and it led to the 
naviga on discovery of many large islands in the East Indies. 
Henceforth men knew of a certainty that the earth was round 
and in the distance covered by Magellan they had a rough 
estimate of its size. The circumnavigation of the globe ranks 
with the discovery of America among the most significant 
events in history. In the company of great explorers Magellan 
stands beside Columbus. 

223. The Indians 

The first inhabitants of America probably came from the 
Old World. At a remote epoch a land-bridge connected north- 
Peopling of west Europe with Greenland, and Iceland still 
America remains a witness to its former existence. Over 

this bridge animals and men may have found their way into 
the New World. Another prehistoric route may have led from 
Asia. Only a narrow strait now separates Alaska from Siberia, 
and the Aleutian Islands form an almost complete series of 
stepping-stones across the most northerly part of the Pacific. 

The natives of America, whom Columbus called Indians, 
certainly resemble Asiatics in some physical features, such as 
^jjg the reddish-brown complexion, the hair, uni- 

American formly black and lank, the high cheek-bones, and 

aborigines ^^^ ^-^^^^ stature of many tribes. On the other 
hand, the large, aquihne nose, the straight eyes, never obhque, 
and the tall stature of some tribes are European traits. It 
seems safe to conclude that the American aborigines, whatever 
their origin, became thoroughly fused into a composite race 
during long centuries of isolation from the rest of mankind. 




The Indians 631 

Because of their isolation the Indians had to work out 
by themselves many arts, inventions, and discoveries. They 
spoke over a thousand languages and dialects; Indian 
and not one has yet been traced outside of culture 
America. Their implements consisted of pohshed stone, occa- 
sionally of unsmelted copper, and in Mexico and Peru, of 
bronze. They cultivated Indian corn, or maize, but lacked 
the other great ^^^ 

cereals. They 
domesticated the 
dog and the llama 
of the Andes. 
They lived in Aztec Sal..!. .^..^l Knife 

clans and tribes, British Museum, London. 

ruled by headmen Length, twelve inches. The blade is of yellow, opalescent 

1 • r rpi • chalcedony, beautifully chipped and polished. The handle is 

or CnieiS. i neir ^^ hght-colored wood carved in the form of a man masked with 

religion probably a bird skin. Brilliant mosaic settings of turquoise, malachite, 

T 1 , . 1 and shell embellish the figure. 

did not mvolve 

a belief in a " Great Spirit," as is so often said, but rather 
recognized in all nature the abode of spiritual powers, mys- 
terious and wonderful, whom man ought to conciliate by 
prayers and sacrifices. In short, most of the American 
Indians were not savages, but barbarians well advanced in 
culture. 

Indian culture attained its highest development in Mexico 
and Central America, especially among the Mayas of Yucatan, 
Guatemala, and Honduras. The remains of their The 
cities — the Ninevehs and Babylons of the New Mayas 
World — lie buried in the tropical jungle, where Europeans 
first saw them, four hundred years ago. The temples, shrines, 
altars, and statues in these ancient cities show that the Mayas 
had made much progress in the fine arts. They knew enough 
astronomy to frame a solar calendar of three hundred and 
sixty-five days, and enough mathematics to employ numbers 
exceeding a million. The writing of the Mayas had reached 
the rebus ^ stage and promised to become alphabetic. When 

1 See page 9. 



632 Geographical Discovery and Colonization 



their hieroglyphics have been completely deciphered, we shall 
learn much more about this gifted people. 

Several centuries before the arrival of Europeans in America, 
the so-called Aztecs came down from the north and established 
The themselves on the Mexican plateau. Here they 

Aztecs formed a confederacy of many tribes, ruled over 

by a sort of king, whose capital was Tenochtitlan, on the site 
of the present city of Mexico. 




''iiibiiiumiiiiuiiiiiiiii(ii«iiiifliiiKWi«inM»»m»'»i'»'»>ii»»»'"»"" 

Aztec Sacrificial Stone 

Now in the National Museum in the City of Mexico. 

The Aztecs appear to have borrowed much of their art, 
science, and knowledge of writing from their Maya neighbors. 
Aztec They built houses and temples of stone or sun- 

culture dried brick, constructed aqueducts, roads, and 

bridges, excelled in the dyeing, weaving, and spinning of cotton, 
and made most beautiful ornaments of silver and gold. They 
worshiped many gods, to which the priests offered prisoners 
of war as human sacrifices. In spite of these bloody rites, 
the Aztecs were a kind-hearted, honest people, respectful of 
the rights of property, brave in battle, and obedient to their 
native rulers. Aztec culture in some ways was scarcely 
inferior to that of the ancient Egyptians. 

The lofty table-lands of the Andes were also the seat of an 
advanced Indian culture. At the time of the 
Spanish conquest the greater part of what is now 
Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, and northern Chile had come under 



The Incas 



Spanish Explorations and Conquests in America 633 

the sway of the Incas, the ''people of the sun." The Inca 
power centered in the Peruvian city of Cuzco and on the shores 
of Lake Titicaca, which lies twelve thousand feet above sea- 
level. In this region of magnificent scenery the traveler views 
with astonishment the ruins of vast edifices, apparently never 
completed, which were raised either by the Incas or the Indians 
whom they conquered and displaced. Though the culture of 



Gidf of ^^^ 
Mexico ^ 






WEST INDIES 

SCALE OF MILES 




the Incas resembled in many ways that of the Aztecs, the 
two peoples probably never had any intercourse and hence 
remained totally unaware of each other's existence. 

224. Spanish Explorations and Conquests in America 

The discoverers of the New World were naturally the pioneers 
in its exploration. The first object of the Spaniards had been 
trade with the Indies, and for a number of years, objects of 
until Magellan's voyage, they sought vainly for *^® Spaniards 
a passage through the mainland to the Spice Islands. When, 
however, the Spaniards learned that America was rich in 
deposits of gold and silver, these metals formed the prin- 
cipal objects of their expeditions. 

The Spaniards at first had confined their settlements to the 



634 Geographical Discovery and Colonization 



Greater Antilles in the West Indies,^ but after the gold of these 
islands was exhausted, they began to penetrate the 
mainland. In 15 13 a.d. Ponce de Leon, who had 
been with Columbus on his second voyage, discov- 
ered the country which he named Florida. It be- 
came the first Spanish possession in North America. In the 



Ponce de 
Leon and 
Balboa, 
1513 A.D. 







Ax Early IMap of the New World (1540 a.d.) 

same year Vasco Nunez de Balboa, from the isthmus of Panama, 
sighted the Pacific. He entered its waters, sword in hand, and 
took formal possession in the name of the king of Spain. 

The overthrow of the Aztec power was accomplished by 
Conquest Hernando Cortes, with the aid of Indian allies. 

Many large towns and half a thousand villages, 
together with immense quantities of treasure, fell 
into the hands of the conquerors. Henceforth 
Mexico, or "New Spain," became the most im- 
portant Spanish possession in America. Francisco Pizarro, 

1 Cuba, Hispaniola (now divided between the republics of Haiti and Santo Do- 
mingo), Porto Rico, and Jamaica. 



of Mexico, 
1519-1521 
A.D., and 
Peru, 1531 
1537 A.D. 



The Spanish Colonial Empire 635 

who invaded Peru with a handful of soldiers, succeeded in 
overthrowing the Incas. Pizarro founded in Peru the city of 
Lima. It replaced Cuzco as the capital of the country and 
formed the seat of the Spanish government in South America. 
The Spaniards, during the earher part of the sixteenth cen- 
tury, heard much of a fabled king whom they called El Dorado.^ 
This king, it was said, used to smear himself with 
gold dust at an annual religious ceremony. In 
time the idea arose that somewhere in South America existed 
a fabled country marvelously rich in precious metals and gems. 
These stories stirred the imagination of the Spaniards, who 
fitted out many expeditions to find the gilded man and his 
gilded realm. The quest for El Dorado opened up the valleys 
of the Amazon and Orinoco and the extensive forest region 
east of the Andes. Spanish explorers also tried to find El 
Dorado in North America. De Soto's expedition led to the 
discovery of the Mississippi in 1541 a.d., and Coronado's 
search for the "Seven Cities of Cibola" not only added 
greatly to geographical knowledge of the Southwest, but 
also resulted in the extension of Spanish dominion over this 
part of the American continent. About 1605 a.d. the 
Spaniards founded Santa Fe and made it the capital of 
their government in New Mexico. 

225. The Spanish Colonial Empire 

The wonderful exploits of the conquistador es (conquerors) 
laid the foundations of the Spanish colonial empire. It in- 
cluded Florida, New Mexico, California, Mexico, spain in 
Central America, the West Indies, and all South the New 
America except Brazil.^ The rule of Spain over °^ 
these dominions lasted nearly three hundred years. During 
this time she gave her language, her government, and her 
religion to half the New World. 

^ Spanish for the "gilded one." 

^ See the map between pages 628-629. The Phihppines, discovered by Magellan 
in 1521 A.D., also belonged to Spain, though by the demarcation line these islands 
lay within the Portuguese sphere of influence. 



636 Geographical Discovery and Colonization 

The Spaniards brought few women with them and hence 

had to find their wives among the Indians. Intermarriage 

Intennar- of the two peoples early became common. The 

riage of result was the mixed race which one still finds 

Spaniards 

and throughout the greater part of Spanish America. 

Indians jj^ ^j^jg ^ace the Indian strain predominates, be- 

cause almost everywhere the aborigines were far more numer- 
ous than the white settlers. 

The Spaniards treated the Indians of the West Indies most 
harshly and forced them to work in gold mines and on sugar 
Treatment plantations. The hard labor, to which the In- 
of the dians were unaccustomed, broke down their health, 

and almost the entire native population disap- 
peared within a few years after the coming of the whites. 
This terrible tragedy w^as not repeated on the miainland, for 
the Spanish government stepped in to preserve the aborigines 
from destruction. It prohibited their enslavement and gave 
them the protection of humane laws. Though these laws 
were not always well enforced, the Indians of Mexico and 
Peru increased in numbers under Spanish rule and often 
became prosperous traders, farmers, and artisans. 

The Spaniards succeeded in winning many of the Indians to 
Christianity. Devoted monks penetrated deep into the wilder- 
Conversion ^^^^ ^^^ brought to the aborigines, not only the 
of the Christian religion, but also European civilization. 

In many places the natives w^ere gathered into 
permanent villages, or "missions," each one with its church and 
school. Converts who learned to read and write often became 
priests or entered the monastic orders. The monks also took 
much interest in the material welfare of the Indians and taught 
them how to farm, how to build houses, and how to spin and 
weave and cook by better methods than their own. 

The most familiar examples of the Spanish missions are those 

The CaU- ^^ ^^^ ^^^^^ ^^ California. During the last quar- 

fornia ter of the eighteenth century Franciscan friars 

erected no less than eighteen mission stations 

along the Pacific coast from San Diego to San Francisco. 



The Spanish Colonial Empire 637 

The stations were connected by the "King's Road," ^ which 
still remains the principal highway of the state. Some of the 
mission buildings now lie in ruins and others have entirely 
disappeared. But such a well-preserved structure as the mis- 
sion of Santa Barbara recalls a Benedictine monastery,^ with 
its shady cloisters, secluded courtyard, and timbered roof 
covered with red tiles. It is a bit of the Old World trans- 
planted to the New. 

The civilizing work of Spain in the New World is sometimes 
forgotten. Here were the earliest American hospitals and 
asylums, for the use of Indians and negroes as gpanish- 
well as of Spaniards. Here were the earliest American 
American schools and colleges. Twelve institu- 
tions of higher learning, all modeled upon the university of 
Salamanca, arose in Spanish America during the colonial 
period. Eight of these came into existence before the crea- 
tion in 1636 A.D. of Harvard University, the oldest in the 
United States. The pioneer printing press in the Western 
Hemisphere was set up at Mexico City in 1535 a.d.; no print- 
ing press reached the English colonies till more than one hun- 
dred years later. To the valuable books by Spanish scholars 
we owe much of our knowledge of the Mayas, Aztecs, and 
other Indian tribes. The first American newspaper was pub- 
lished at Mexico City in 1693 a.d. The fine arts also flour- 
ished in the Spanish colonies, and architects of the United 
States have now begun to copy the beautiful churches and 
public buildings of Mexico and Peru. 

The government of Spain administered its colonial dominions 
in the spirit of monopoly. As far as possible it excluded French, 
English, and other foreigners from trading with gpanish 
Spanish America. It also discouraged ship-build- colonial 
ing, manufacturing, and even the cultivation of ^° ^^ 
the vine and the olive, lest the colonists should compete with 
home industries. The colonies were regarded only as a work- 
shop for the production of the precious metals and raw materials. 
This unwise poHcy very largely accounts for the economic 

1 In Spanish El Camino Red. ^ See page 355. 



6^,^ Geographical Discovery and Colonization 

backwardness of Mexico, Peru, and other Spanish-American 
countries at the present day. Their rich natural resources 
have as yet scarcely begun to be utilized. 

226. English and French Explorations in America 

The English based their claim to the right to colonize North 
America on the discoveries of John Cabot, an Italian mariner 

the service of the 




The Cabot 
voyages, 
1497-1498 
A.D. 



m 



Tudor king, Henry VII. ^ 
In 1497 A.D. Cabot sailed 
from Bristol across the 
northern Atlantic and made land 
somewhere between Labrador and 
Nova Scotia. The follow^ing year he 
seems to have undertaken a second 
voyage and to have explored the coast 
of North America nearly as far as 
Florida. Cabot, like Columbus, be- 
lieved he had reached Cathay and the 
dominions of the Great Khan. Be- 
cause Cabot found neither gold nor 
opportunities for profitable trade, his 
expeditions were considered a failure, 
and for a long time the English took 
no further interest in exploring the 
New World. 

The discovery by Magellan of a 
strait leading into the Pacific aroused 
hope that a similar pas- 
sage, beyond the regions 
controlled by Spain, 
might exist in North 
America. In 1534 a.d. the French 
king, Francis I, sent Jacques Cartier to look for it. Cartier 
found the gulf and river which he named after St. Lawrence, 
and also tried to establish a settlement near where Quebec 

1 See page 518. 



Cabot ^Memorial Tower 

Erected at ftristol, Englanl in 
memory of John Cabot and his 
sons. The foundation stone as 
laid on June 24, 1897 a.d., the 
four-hundredth anniversary of 
John Cabot's first sight of the 
contment of North America. 



Cartier's 
voyages, 
1534-1542 
A.D. 



English and French Explorations 639 

now stands. The venture was not successful, and the French 
did not undertake the colonization of Canada till the first dec- 
ade of the seventeenth century. 

English sailors also sought a road to India by the so-called 
Northwest Passage. It was soon found to be an impossible 
route, for during half the year the seas were ^j^g 
frozen and during the other half they were filled Northwest 
with icebergs. However, the search for the ^^^^se 
Northwest Passage added much to geographical knowledge. 
The names Frobisher Bay, Davis Strait, and Baffin Land still 
preserve the memory of the navigators who first explored the 
channels leading into the Arctic Ocean. 

When the English realized how little profit was to be gained 
by voyages to the cold and desolate north, they turned south- 
ward to warmer waters. Here, of course, they The English 
came upon the Spaniards, who had no disposition "sea dogs" 
to share with foreigners the profitable trade of the New World. 
Though England and Spain were not at war, the Enghsh ''sea 
dogs," as they called themselves, did not scruple to ravage 
the Spanish colonies and to capture the huge, clumsy treasure- 
ships carrying gold and silver to Spain. The most famous 
of the "sea dogs," Sir Francis Drake, was the first English- 
man to sail round the world (15 77-1 580 a.d.). 

Four years after Drake had completed his voyage, another 

Enghsh seaman. Sir Walter Raleigh, sent out an expedition 

to find a erood site for a settlement in North 

X,, , , , , , The Raleigh 

America. The explorers reached the coast of colonies, 

North Carolina and returned with glowing ac- 1584-1590 

counts of the country, which was named Virginia, 

in honor of Elizabeth, the "Virgin Queen." But Raleigh's 

colonies in Virginia failed miserably, and the Enghsh made 

no further attempt to settle there till the reign of James I, 

early in the seventeenth century. 

227. The Old World and the New 

The New World contained two virgin continents, full of 
natural resources and capable in a high degree of colonization. 



640 Geographical Discovery and Colonization 

The native peoples, comparatively few in number and bar- 
Expansion barian in culture, could not offer much resistance 
of Europe ^q i\^q explorers, missionaries, traders, and colo- 

nists from the Old World. The Spanish and Portuguese in 
the sixteenth century, followed by the French, English, and 
Dutch in the seventeenth century, repeopled America and 
brought to it European civilization. Europe expanded into a 
Greater Europe beyond the ocean. 

In the Middle Ages the Mediterranean and the Baltic had 
been the principal highways of commerce. The discovery of 
Shifting of America, followed immediately by the opening of 
trade routes ^]-^g Cape route to the Indies, shifted commercial 
activity from these enclosed seas to the Atlantic Ocean. Venice, 
Genoa, Hamburg, Liibeck, and Bruges gradually gave way, as 
trading centers, to Lisbon and Cadiz, Bordeaux and Cherbourg, 
Antwerp and Amsterdam, London and Liverpool. One may 
say, therefore, that the year 1492 a.d. inaugurated the Atlantic 
period of European history. The time may come, perhaps even 
now it is dawning, when the center of gravity of the commer- 
cial world will shift still farther westward to the Pacific. 

The discovery of America revealed to Europeans a new 
source of the precious metals. The Spaniards soon secured 
Increased large quantities of gold by plundering the In- 
production ^[^^^ ^f Mexico and Peru of their stored-up 

of the , , * r , 1 . • r ^ 

precious wealth. After the discovery m 1545 a.d. of the 

metals wonderfully rich silver mines of Potosi in Bolivia, 

the output of silver much exceeded that of gold. It is esti- 
mated that by the end of the sixteenth century the American 
mines had produced at least three times as much gold and 
silver as had been current in Europe at the beginning of the 
century. 
The Spaniards could not keep this new treasure. Having 

few industries themselves, they were obliged to 
Cense- , . ^ , . , . . 

quences of send it out, as fast as they received it, m pay- 

the enlarged ment for their imports of European goods. Spain 
money supply . 

acted as a huge sieve through which the gold 

and silver of America entered all the countries of Europe. 



The Old World and the New 641 

Money, now more plentiful, purchased far less than in former 
times ; in other words, the prices of all commodities rose, wages 
advanced, and manufacturers and traders had additional capital 
to use in their undertakings. The Middle Ages had suffered 
from the lack of sufficient money with which to do business; ^ 
from the beginning of modern times the world has been better 
suppHed with the indispensable medium of exchange. 

But America was much more than a treasury of the precious 
metals. Many commodities, hitherto unknown, soon found 
their way from the New World to the Old. Among j^^^ 
these were maize, the potato, which, when culti- commodities 
vated in Europe, became the "bread of the poor," ^^p°^ ® 
chocolate and cocoa made from the seeds of the cacao tree, 
Peruvian bark, or quinine, so useful in malarial fevers, cochineal, 
the dye-woods of Brazil, and the mahogany of the West Indies. 
America also sent large supplies of cane-sugar, molasses, fish, 
whale-oil, and furs. The use of tobacco, which Columbus first 
observed among the Indians, spread rapidly over Europe and 
thence extended to the rest of the world. All these new 
American products became common articles of consumption 
and so raised the standard of living in European countries. 

To the economic effects of the discoveries must be added their 

effects on politics. The Atlantic Ocean now formed, not only 

the commercial, but also the political center of the _ , . , 
' . ^ . Political 

world. The Atlantic-facing countries, first Portu- effects of 

gal and Spain, then Holland, France, and England, *® ^!^" 
became the great powers of Europe. Their trade 
rivalries and contests for colonial possessions have been potent 
causes of European wars for the last four hundred years. 

The sudden disclosure of oceans, islands, and continents, 
covering one-third of the globe, worked a revolution in geo- 
graphical ideas. The earth was found to be far ^^ 
V 1 , , 1-1 1 , Effects of 

larger than men had supposed it to be, and the the dis- 

imagination was stirred by the thought of other eocenes 

amazing discoveries which might be made. From 

the sixteenth century to the twentieth the work of exploration 

I See page 541. 



642 Geographical Discovery and Colonization 

has continued, till now few regions of the world yet remain 
unmapped. At the same time came acquaintance with many 
strange plants, animals, and peoples, and so scientific knowl- 
edge replaced the quaint fancies of the Middle Ages. 

The sixteenth century in Europe was the age of that revolt 
against the Roman Church called the Protestant Reformation. 

During this period, however, the Church won her 
the discov- victories over the American aborigines. What she 
eries upon j^g^ ^f territory, wealth, and influence in Europe was 

more than offset by what she gained in America. 
Furthermore, the region now occupied by the United States 
furnished in the seventeenth century an asylum from religious 
persecution, as was proved when Puritans settled in New 
England, Roman Catholics in Maryland, and Quakers in Penn- 
sylvania. The vacant spaces of America offered plenty of room 
for all who would worship God in their own way. Thus the 
New World became a refuge from the intolerance of the Old. 

Studies 
I. On an outline map indicate those parts of the world known in the time of 
Columbus (before 1492 a.d.). 2. On an outline map indicate the voyages of 
discovery of Vasco da Gama, Columbus (first voyage), John Cabot, and Magellan. 
3. What particular discoveries were made by Cartier, Drake, Balboa, De Soto, 
Ponce de Leon, and Coronado? 4. Compare the Cosmas map (page 617) with 
the map of the world according to Homer (page 76). 5. Compare the Hereford 
map (page 617) with the map of the world according to Ptolemy (page 132). 

6. Why has Marco Polo been called the "Columbus of the East Indies"? 

7. "Cape Verde not only juts out into the Atlantic, but stands forth as a promon- 
tory in human history." Comment on this statement. 8. How did Vasco da Gama 
complete the work of Prince Henry the Navigator? 9. Show that Lisbon in the 
sixteenth century was the commercial successor of Venice. 10. "Had Columbus 
perished in mid-ocean, it is doubtful whether America would have remained long 
undiscovered." Comment on this statement. 11. Why did no one suggest that 
the New World be called after Columbus? 12. Show that Magellan achieved 
what Columbus planned. 13. Why did Balboa call the Pacific the "South Sea"? 
14. Why is Roman law followed in all Spanish- American countries? 15. In what 
parts of the world is Spanish still the common language? 16. Why did the Ger- 
mans fail to take part in the work of discovery and colonization? 17. Show that 
the three words "gospel, glory, and gold" sum up the principal motives of Euro- 
pean colonization in the sixteenth century. 18. Compare the motives which led 
to the colonization of the New World with those which led to Greek colonization. 
19. "The opening of the Atlantic to continuous exploration is the most mo- 
mentous step in the history of man's occupation of the earth." Does this state- 
ment seem to be justified? 



CHAPTER XXVII 

THE REFORMATION AND THE RELIGIOUS WARS, 
1517-1648 A.D.1 



228. Decline of the Papacy 

The Papacy, victorious in the long struggle with the Holy 
Roman Empire, reached during the thirteenth century the 
height of its temporal power. The popes at this 
time were the greatest sovereigns in Europe. They in the 
ruled a large part of Italy, had great influence in thirteenth 
the affairs of France, England, Spain, and other 
countries, and in Germany named and deposed emperors. 
From their capital at Rome they sent forth their legates to 
every European court and issued the laws binding on western 
Christendom. 

The universal dominion of the Church proved useful and 
even necessary in feudal times, when kings were weak and 
nobles were strong. The Church of the early 
Middle Ages served as the chief unifying force in between 
Europe. When, however, the kings had repressed Church and 
feudalism, they took steps to extend their author- 
ity over the Church as well. They tried, therefore, to restrict 
the privileges of ecclesiastical courts, to impose taxes on the 
clergy, as on their own subjects, and to dictate the appoint- 
ment of bishops and abbots to office. This policy naturally 
led to much friction between popes and kings, between Church 
and State. 

The Papacy put forth its most extensive claims under Boniface 
VIII. The character of these claims is shown by two bulls 

^ Webster, Readings in Medieval and Modern History, chapter xxiii, "Martin 
Luther and the Beginning of the Reformation"; chapter xxiv, "England in the 
Age of Elizabeth.'' 

643 



644 The Reformation and the Rehgious Wars 

which he issued. The first forbade all laymen, under penalty 

of excommunication, to collect taxes on Church 
Pontificate ,,,,11 1 r^, 

of Boniface lands, and all clergymen to pay them. The 

VIII, I294r- second announced in unmistakeable terms both 
1303 A.D. ,..111 

the spiritual and the temporal supremacy of the 

popes. '^ Submission to the Roman pontiff," declared Boni- 
face, "is altogether necessary to salvation for every human 
creature." 

Boniface had employed the exalted language of Gregory VII 
in dealing with Henry IV, but he found an opponent in a mon- 
Boniface ^^^^ more resolute and resourceful than any Holy 

and Philip Roman Emperor. This was Philip the Fair,^ 

^ ^^ king of France. Philip answ^ered the first bull by 

refusing to allow any gold and silver to be exported from France 
to Italy. The pope, thus deprived of valuable revenues, gave 
w^ay and acknowledged that the French ruler had a limited 
right to tax the clergy. Another dispute soon arose, however, 
as the result of Philip's imprisonment and trial of an obnoxious 
papal legate. Angered by this action, Boniface prepared to 
excommunicate the king and depose him from the throne. 
Philip retaliated by calling together the Estates-General 
and asking their support for the preservation of the "ancient 
liberty of France." The nobles, the clergy, and the ''third 
estate" rallied around Philip, accused the pope of heresy 
and tyranny, and declared that the French king w^as subject 
to God alone. 

The last act of the drama was soon played. Philip sent his 
emissaries into Italy to arrest the pope and bring him to trial 
Anagni, before a general council in France. At Anagni, 

1303 A.D. -Qgg^j. Rome, a band of hireling soldiers stormed the 
papal palace and made Boniface a prisoner. The citizens of 
Anagni soon freed him, but the shock of the humiliation broke 
the old man's spirit and he died spon afterwards. The poet 
Dante, in the Divine Comedy,^ speaks with awe of the outrage: 
"Christ had been again crucified among robbers; and the 
vinegar and gall had been again pressed to his lips."^ The 

1 See page 514. 2 See page 591. 3 Pur gator io, xx, 8S-90. 



Decline of the Papacy 645 

historian sees in this event the end of the temporal power of the 
Papacy. 

Soon after the death of Boniface, Philip succeeded in having 
the archbishop of Bordeaux chosen as head of the Church. 
The new pope removed the papal court to Avignon, The 
a town just outside the French frontier of those "Babylonian 
days. The popes Hved in Avignon for nearly 1309-1377 
seventy years. This period is usually described ^•^• 
as the "Babylonian Captivity" of the Church, a name 
which recalls the exile of the Jews from their native land.^ 
The long absence of the popes from Rome lessened their 
power, and the suspicion that they were the mere vassals of 
the French crown seriously impaired the respect in which 
they had been held. 

Following the ''Babylonian Captivity" came the "Great 

Schism." Shortly after the return of the papal court to Rome, 

an Italian was elected pope as Urban VI. The ^, ,, ^ 

1. , . 1 X. 1 . r 1 Th® "Great 

cardmals m the French mterest refused to accept Schism," 

him, declared his election void, and named Clement ^^l^~^^^^ 

VII as pope. Clement withdrew to Avignon, 

while Urban remained in Rome. Western Christendom could 

not decide which one to obey. Some countries declared for 

Urban, while other countries accepted Clement. The spectacle 

of two rival popes, each holding himself out as the only true 

successor of St. Peter, continued for about forty years and 

injured the Papacy more than anything else that had happened 

to it. 

The schism in western Christendom was finally healed at the 

Council of Constance. There were three "phan- ^ ., ^ 

■^ Council of 

tom popes" at this time, but they were all deposed Constance, 

in favor of a new pontiff, Martin V. The Cath- ^^^^^^^ 

olic world now had a single head, but it was not 

easy to revive the old, unquestioning loyalty to him as God's 

vicar on earth. 

From the time of Martin V the Papacy became more and 

more an Italian power. The popes neglected European politics 

1 See pages 36-37. 



646 The Reformation and the Rehgious Wars 

and gave their chief attention to the States of the Church. A 
^j^g number of the popes took much interest in the 

Renaissance Renaissance movement and became its enthusiastic 
^°^®^ patrons.^ They kept up splendid courts, col- 

lected manuscripts, paintings, and statues, and erected magnifi- 




The Great Schism, 1378-1417 a.d, 

cent palaces and churches in Rome. Some European peoples, 
especially in Germany, looked askance at such luxury and 
begrudged the heavy taxes which were necessary to support 
it. This feeling against the papacy also helped to provoke the 
Reformation. 

The worldliness of some of the popes was too often reflected 
in the lives of the lesser clergy. Throughout the thirteenth, 
fourteenth, and fifteenth centuries the Church encountered 

1 See page 5g4. 



Heresies and Heretics 647 

much criticism from reformers. Thus, the famous humanist, 
Erasmus/ wrote his Praise of Folly to expose the complaints 
vices and temporal ambitions of bishops and against the 
monks, the fooUsh speculations of theologians, and ^ ^^^^ 
the excessive reliance which common people had on pilgrimages, 
festivals, rehcs, and other aids to devotion. So great was the 
demand for this work that it went through twenty-seven large 
editions during the author's lifetime. Erasmus and others like 
him were loyal sons of the Church, but they believed they 
could best serve her interests by effecting her reform. Some 
men went further, however, and demanded wholesale changes 
in Catholic belief and worship. These men were the heretics. 

229. Heresies and Heretics 

During the first centuries of our era, when the Christians 
had formed a forbidden sect, they claimed toleration on the 
ground that religious belief is voluntary and not Persecution 
something which can be enforced by law. This °^ heretics 
view changed after Christianity triumphed in the Roman 
Empire and enjoyed the support, instead of the opposition, of 
the government. The Church, backed by the State, no longer 
advocated freedom of conscience, but began to persecute people 
who held heretical beliefs. 

It is difficult for those who live in an age of religious tolera- 
tion to understand the horror which heresy inspired in the 

Middle A^es. A heretic was a traitor to the „ ^. , 

Medieval 
Church, for he denied the doctrines believed to be attitude 

essential to salvation. It seemed a Christian Jo^ard 

heresy 
duty to compel the heretic to recant, lest he imperil 

his eternal welfare. If he persisted in his impious course, then 

the earth ought to be rid of one who was a source of danger to 

the faithful and an enemy of the Almighty. 

Although executions for heresy had occurred as early as the 

fourth century ,2 for a long time milder penalties Punishment 

were usually inflicted. The heretic might be ex- °^ heresy 

iled, or imprisoned, or deprived of his property and his rights 

1 See page 600. 2 See page 344. 



648 The Reformation and the Religious Wars 

as a citizen. The death penahy was seldom invoked by the 
Church before the thirteenth century. Since ecclesiastical 
law forbade the Church to shed blood, the State stepped in to 
seize the heretic and put him to death, most often by fire. We 
must remember that in medieval times cruel punishments were 
imposed for even slight offenses, and hence men saw nothing 
wrong in inflicting the worst of punishments for what was 
believed to be the worst of crimes. 

In spite of all measures of repression heretics were not un- 
common during the later Middle Ages. Some heretical move- 
The ments spread over entire communities. The most 

Albigenses important was that of the Albigenses, so called 
from the town of Albi in southern France, where many of 
them lived. Their doctrines are not well known, but they 
seem to have believed in the existence of two gods — one good 
(whose son was Christ), the other evil (whose son was Satan). 
The Albigenses even set up a rival church, with its priests, 
bishops, and councils. 

The failure of attempts to convert the Albigenses by peaceful 

means led the pope. Innocent III,^ to preach a crusade against 

Crusade them. Those who entered upon it were promised 

against the ^]^g usual privileges of crusaders.^ A series of 

Albigenses, ^ ^ 

1209-1229 bloody wars now followed, m the course of which 

^'^' thousands of men, women, and children perished. 

But the Albigensian sect did not entirely disappear for more 
than a century, and then only after numberless trials and 
executions for heresy. 

The followers of Peter Waldo, who lived in the twelfth 
century, made no effort to set up a new religion in Europe. 
The They objected, however, to certain practices of 

Waidenses ^j^g Church, such as masses for the dead and the 
adoration of saints. They also condemned the luxury of the 
clergy and urged that Christians should live like the Apostles, 
charitable and poor. To the Waidenses the Bible was a suffi- 
cient guide to the religious life, and so they translated parts of 
the Scriptures and allowed everyone to preach, without distinc- 

1 See page 461. « See page 468. 



Heresies and Heretics 



649 



tion of age, or rank, or sex. The Waldenses spread through 
many European countries, but being poor and lowly men they 
did not exert much influence as reformers. The sect survived 
severe persecution and now forms a branch of the Protestant 
Church in Italy. 

Beliefs very similar to those of the Waldenses w^re enter- 
tained by John Wycliffe,^ master of an Oxford college and a 
popular preacher. He, 



from the 

John 
Wycliffe, 
1320-1384 
A.D. 




too, appealed 
authority of 
the Church 
to the au- 
thority of 

the Bible. With the 
assistance of two friends 
Wycliffe produced the 
first English translation 
of the Scriptures. Man- 
uscript copies of the 
work had a large circu- 
lation, until the gov- 
ernment suppressed it. 
Wycliffe was not mo- 
lested in life, but the 
Council of Constance 
denounced his teaching 
and ordered that his bones 
cast into a stream. 

Wycliffe had organized bands of ''poor priests" to spread 
the simple truths of the Bible through all England. They 
went out, staff in hand and clad in long, russet The 
gowns, and preached to the common people in the Lollards 
English language, wherever an audience could be found. The 
Lollards, as Wycliffe's followers were known, not only attacked 
many beliefs and practices of the Church, but also demanded 
social reforms. For instance, they declared that all wars 

1 Or Wyclif . 



John Wycliffe 

After an old print 

should be dug up, burned, and 



650 The Reformation and the Religious Wars 

were sinful and were but plundering and murdering the poor 
to win glory for kings. The Lollards had to endure much 
persecution for heresy. Nevertheless their work lived on 
and sowed in England and Scotland the seeds of the 
Reformation. 

The doctrines of Wycliffe found favor with Anne of Bohemia, 
wife of King Richard 11/ and through her they reached that 
John Huss, country. Here they attracted the attention of 
1373 (?)-l4l5 John Huss,^ a distinguished scholar in the uni- 
versity of Prague. Wycliffe's writings confirmed 
Huss in his criticism of many doctrines of the Church. 
He attacked the clergy in sermons and pamphlets and also 
objected to the supremacy of the pope. The sentence of 
excommunication pronounced against him did not shake his 
reforming zeal. Finally Huss was cited to appear before the 
Council of Constance, then in session. Relying on the safe 
conduct given him by the German emperor, Huss appeared 
before the council, only to be declared guilty of teaching "many 
things evil, scandalous, seditious, and dangerously heretical." 
The emperor then violated the safe conduct — no promise 
made to a heretic was considered binding — and allowed Huss 
to be burnt outside the walls of Constance. Thus perished the 
man who, more than all others, is regarded as the forerunner of 
Luther and the Reformation. 

The flames which burned Huss set all Bohemia afire. The 
Bohemians, a Slavic people, regarded him as a national hero 
The Hussite and made his martyrdom an excuse for rebelling 
^^^^ against the Holy Roman Empire. The Hussite 

wars, which followed, thus formed a political rather than a 
rehgious struggle. The Bohemians did not gain freedom, and 
their country still remains a Hapsburg possession. But the 
sense of nationahsm is not extinct there, and Bohemia may 
some day become an independent state. 

1 See page 611. * Or Hus. 



Luther and the Reformation in Germany 651 



230. Martin Luther and the Beginning of the Reforma- 
tion in Germany, 1517-1522 A.D. 

Though there were many reformers before the Reformation, 
the beginning of that movement is rightly associated with the 
name of Martin Luther. He was the son of a Martin 
German peasant, who, by industry and frugahty, 1483-1546 
had won a small competence. Thanks to his A.D. 
father's self-sacrifice, Luther enjoyed a good education in 
scholastic philosophy at the uni- 
versity of Erfurt. Having taken 
the degrees of bachelor and master 
of arts, Luther began to study law, 
but an acute sense of his sinfulness 
and a desire to save his soul soon 
drove him into a monastery. 
There he read the Bible and the 
writings of the Church Fathers 
and found at last the peace of 
mind he sought. A few years later 
Luther paid a visit to Rome, 
which opened his eyes to the 
worldliness and general laxity of 
life in the capital of the Papacy. 
He returned to Germany and became a professor of theology in 
the university of Wittenberg, newly founded by Frederick the 
Wise, elector of Saxony. Luther's sermons and lectures at- 
tracted large audiences; students began to flock to Wittenberg; 
and the elector grew proud of the rising young teacher who 
was making his university famous. 

But Luther was soon to emerge from his academic retirement 
and to become, quite unintentionally, a reformer. In 1517 
A.D. there came into the neighborhood of Witten- Xetzei and 
berg a Dominican friar named Tetzel, selHng in- indulgences 
dulgences for the erection of the new St. Peter's at Rome.^ 




Martin Luther 

After a portrait by Hans Holbein 

the Younger 



1 See page 455. 



652 The Reformation and the Rehgious Wars 

An indulgence, according to the teaching of the Church, formed 
a remission of the temporal punishment, or penance,^ due to 
sin, if the sinner had expressed his repentance and had promised 
to atone for his misdeeds. It was also supposed to free the 
person who received it from some or all of his punishment after 
death in Purgatory.^ Indulgences were granted for participa- 
tion in crusades, pilgrimages, and other good works. Later 
on they were granted for money, which was expected to be 
applied to some pious purpose. Many of the German princes 
opposed this method of raising funds for the Church, because 
it took so much money out of their dominions. Their sale 
had also been condemned on religious grounds by Huss and 
Erasmus. 

Luther began his reforming career by an attack upon indul- 
gences. He did not deny their usefulness altogether, but 
Posting of pointed out that they lent themselves to grave 
five ttieses abuses. Common people, who could not under- 
1517 A.D. stand the Latin in which they were written, often 
thought that they wiped away the penalties of sin, even 
without true repentance. These criticisms Luther set forth in 
ninety-five theses or propositions, which he offered to defend 
against all opponents. In accordance with the custom of me- 
dieval scholars, Luther posted his theses on the door of the 
church at Wittenberg, where all might see them. They were 
composed in Latin, but were at once translated into German, 
printed, and spread broadcast over Germany. Their effect 
was so great that before long the sale of indulgences in that 
country almost ceased. 

The scholarly critic of indulgences soon passed into an open 
foe of the Papacy. Luther found that his theological views 
Burning of bore a close resemblance to those of Wycliffe and 
bun^l520 John Huss, yet he refused to give them up as 
A.D. heretical. Instead, he wrote three bold pam- 

phlets, in one of which he appealed to the ''Christian nobihty 
of the German nation" to rally together against Rome. The 
pope, at first, had paid little attention to the controversy about 

1 See page 441. 2 See page 443. 



Luther and the Reformation in Germany 653 

indulgences, declaring it "a mere squabble of monks," but he 
now issued a bull against Luther, ordering him to recant within 
sixty days or be excommunicated. The papal bull did not 
frighten Luther or withdraw from him popular support. He 
burnt it in the market square of Wittenberg, in the presence of 
a concourse of students and townsfolk. This dramatic answer 
to the pope deeply stirred all Germany. 

The next scene of the Reformation was staged at Worms, at 
an important assembly, or Diet, of the Holy Roman Empire. 
The Diet summoned Luther to appear before it j^^^^ ^^ 
for examination, and the emperor, Charles V, Worms, 
gave him a safe conduct. Luther's friends, re- * * 

membering the treatment of Huss, advised him not to accept 
the summons, but he declared that he would enter Worms 
''in the face of the gates of Hell and the princes of the 
air." In the great hall of the Diet Luther bravely faced 
the princes, nobles, and clergy of Germany. He refused to 
retract anything he had written, unless his statements could 
be shown to contradict the Bible. "It is neither right 
nor safe to act against conscience," Luther said. ''God help 
me. Amen." 

Only one thing remained to do with Luther. He was ordered 
to return to Wittenberg and there await the imperial edict 
declaring him a heretic and outlaw. But the Luther at 
elector of Saxony, who feared for Luther's safety, ^yuTe 1521- 
had him carried off secretly to the castle of Wart- 1522 A.D. 
burg. Here Luther remained for nearly a year, engaged in 
translating the New Testament into German. There had been 
many earlier translations into German, but Luther's was the 
first from the Greek original. His version, simple, forcible, and 
easy to understand, enjoyed wide popularity and helped to fix 
for Germans the form of their literary language. Luther 
afterwards completed a translation of the entire Bible, which 
the printing press multiplied in thousands of copies throughout 
Germany. 

Though still under the ban of the empire, Luther left the 
Wartburg in 1522 a.d. and returned to Wittenberg. He Hved 



654 The Reformation and the Rehgious Wars 

here, unmolested, until his death/ twenty-four years later. 
Luther's During this time he flooded the country with 

leadership pamphlets, wrote innumerable letters, composed 
many fine hymns,^ and prepared a catechism, ''a right Bible," 
said he, "for the laity." Thus Luther became the guide and 
patron of the reformatory movement which he had started. 

231. Charles V and the Spread of the German 
Reformation, 1519-1556 A.D. 

The young man who as Holy Roman Emperor presided at 
the Diet of Worms had assumed the imperial crown only two 
Charles V, years previously. A namesake of Charlemiagne, 
m9-i556 Charles V held sway over dominions even more 
A.D. extensive than those which had belonged to the 

Frankish king. Through his mother, a daughter of Ferdinand 
and Isabella,^ he inherited Spain, Naples, Sicily, and the Spanish 
possessions in the New World. Through his father, a son of 
the emperor Maximilian I, he became ruler of Burgund}^ and 
the Netherlands and also succeeded to the Austrian territories 
of the Hapsburgs. Charles was thus the most powerful 
monarch in Europe. 

Charles, as a devout Roman Catholic, had no sympathy for 
the Reformation. At Worms, on the day following Luther's 
Charles V refusal to recant, the emperor had expressed his 
and the determination to stake ''all his dominions, his 

friends, his body and blood, his life and soul" upon 
the extinction of the Lutheran heresy. This might have been 
an easy task, had Charles undertaken it at once. But a revolt 
in Spain, wars with the French king, Francis I, and conflicts 
with the Ottoman Turks led to his long absence from Germany 
and kept him from proceeding effectively against the Lu- 
therans, until it was too late. 

The Reformation in Germany appealed to many classes. 
To patriotic Germans it seemed a revolt against a foreign 

1 His hymn Ein feste Burg ist unser Gott ("A mighty fortress is our God") has 
been called "the Marseillaise of the Reformation." 

2 See page 522. 



Charles V and the Reformation 



6SS 



power — the Italian Papacy. To men of pious mind it offered 
the attractions of a simple faith which took the ^j^^ 
Bible as the rule of Hfe. Wordly-minded princes "Reformed 
saw in it an opportunity to despoil the Church ^^s^**^ 
of lands and revenues. For these reasons Luther's teachings 
found ready acceptance. 



Priests married, Luther 
himself setting the ex- 
ample, monks left their 
monasteries, and the "Re- 
formed Religion" took the 
place of Roman Cathoh- 
cism in most parts of 
northern and central Ger- 
many. South Germany, 
however, did not fall away 
from the pope and has 
remained Roman CathoUc 
to the present time. 

Though Germany had 
now divided into two re- 
ligious parties, the legal 
position of Lutheranism 
remained for a long time 
in doubt. A Diet held in 
1526 A.D. tried to shelve 
the question by allowing 




Charles V 

A portrait of the emperor at the age of 
the Venetian painter Titian. 



5, by 



each German state to conduct its religious affairs as it saw 
fit. But at the next Diet, three years later, a ^j^^ 
majority of the assembled princes decided that Protestants, 
the Edict of Worms against Luther and his ^^^^ ^'^' 
followers should be enforced. The Lutheran princes at once 
issued a vigorous protest against such action. Because of 
this protest those who separated from the Roman Church 
came to be called Protestants. 

It was not till 1546 a.d., the year of Luther's death, that 
Charles V felt his hands free to suppress the rising tide 



656 The Reformation and the ReHgious Wars 

of Protestantism. By this time the Lutheran princes had 
Peace of formed a league for mutual protection. Charles 

Augsburg, brought Spanish troops into Germany and tried 
' ' to break up the league by force. Civil war raged 
till 1555 A.D., when both sides agreed to the Peace of Augsburg. 
It was a compromise. The ruler of each state — Germany 
then contained over three hundred states — was to decide 
whether his subjects should be Lutherans or Catholics. Thus 
the peace by no means established rehgious toleration, since all 
Germans had to believe as their prince believed. However, it 
recognized Lutheranism as a legal religion and ended the 
attempts to crush the German Reformation. 

Meanwhile Luther's doctrines spread into Scandinavian 
Lutheranism l^^nds. The rulers of Denmark, Norway, and 
in Scandi- Sweden closed the monasteries and compelled 
"^^^^ the Roman Catholic bishops to surrender eccle- 

siastical property to the crown. Lutheranism became hence- 
forth the official reliorion of these three countries. 



232. The Reformation in Switzerland; 
Zwingli and Calvin 

The Reformation in Switzerland began with the work 
of Zwingli. He was the contemporary but not the disciple 
Huldreich of Luther. From his pulpit in the cathedral of 
1484^1531 Zurich, Zwingli proclaimed the Scriptures as the 
A.D. sole guide of faith and denied the supremacy of 

the pope. Many of the Swiss cantons accepted his teaching 
and broke away from obedience to Rome. Civil war soon 
followed between Protestants and Roman Catholics, and 
ZwingH fell in the struggle. After his death the two parties 
made a peace which allowed each canton to determine its own 
religion. Switzerland has continued to this day to be part 
Roman Catholic and part Protestant. 

The Protestants in Switzerland did not remain long without 
a leader. To Geneva came in 1536 a.d. a young Frenchman 
named Calvin. He had just published his Institutes of the 



Zwingli and Calvin 657 

Christian Religion, a work which set forth in an orderly, 
logical manner the main principles of Protes- j^j^^^ Caivin, 
tant theology. Calvin also translated the Bible 1509-1564 
into French and wrote valuable commentaries on 
nearly all the Scriptural books. 

Calvin at Geneva was sometimes called the Protestant pope. 
During his long residence there he governed the people with a 
rod of iron. There were no 
more festivals, no Calvin at 
more theaters, no G-eneva 
more dancing, music, and mas- 
querades. All the citizens had 
to attend two sermons on Sun- 
day and to yield at least a 
lip-assent to the reformer's doc- 
trines. On a few occasions 
Calvin proceeded to terrible ex- 
tremities, as when he caused the 
Spanish physician, Michael Ser- 

vetus, to be burned to death, 
, r 1- ^' 1 • John Calvin 

because of heretical views con- 
cerning the Trinity. Neverthe- ^^ ^° ° ^"° 
less, Geneva prospered under Calvin's rule and became a 
Christian commonwealth, sober and industrious. The city 
still reveres the memory of the man who founded her 
university and made her, as it were, the sanctuary of 
the Reformation. 

Calvin's influence was not confined to Geneva or even to 
Switzerland. The men whom he trained and on whom he set 
the stamp of his stern, earnest. God-fearing char- Diffusion of 
acter spread Calvinism over a great part of Europe. Calvinism 
In Holland and Scotland it became the prevailing type of 
Protestantism, and in France and England it deeply affected 
the national life. During the seventeenth century the Puritans 
carried Calvinism across the sea to New England, where it 
formed the dominant faith in colonial times. 




658 The Reformation and the Rehgious Wars 



Henry VIH 
king, 1509- 
1547 A.D. 



233. The English Reformation, 1533-1558 A.D. 

The Reformation in Germany and Switzerland started as a 
national and popular movement; in England it began as the 

act of a despotic sov- 
ereign, Henry VIII. 
This 
second 
Tudor ^ 
was handsome, athle- 
tic, finely educated, 
and very able; but 
he was also selfish, 
sensual, and cruel. 
His father had cre- 
ated a strong mon- 
archy in England by 
humbling both Par- 
liament and the 
nobles. When Henry 
VIII came to the 
throne, the only seri- 
ous obstacle in the 
way of royal abso- 
lutism was the Ro- 
man Church. 

Henry showed him- 
self at first a devoted 




Henry VIH 
After a portrait by Hans Holbein the Younger 



Catholic. 



Henry's 
early 

loyalty to 
the Papacy 



He took an amateur's interest in theology and 
WTote with his own royal pen a book attacking 
Luther. The pope rewarded him with the title 
of "Defender of the Faith," a title which English 
sovereigns still bear. Henry at this time did not question the 
authority of the Papacy. He even made his chief adviser 
Cardinal Wolsey, the most conspicuous churchman in the 
kingdom. 

1 See page 518. 



The English Reformation 659 

At the beginning of Henry's reign the Church was still strong 
in England. Probably most of the people were sincerely 
attached to it. Still, the labors of WycHffe and Preparation 
the Lollards had weakened the hold of the Church English 
upon the masses, while Erasmus and the Oxford Reformation 
scholars who worked with him, by their criticism of ecclesiasti- 
cal abuses, had done much to undermine its influence with 
the intellectual classes. In England, as on the Continent, 
the worldliness of the Church prepared the way for the 
Reformation. 

The actual separation from Rome arose out of Henry's 
rnatrimonial difficulties. He had married a Spanish princess, 
Catherine of Aragon, the aunt of the emperor jjej^-y ^nd 
Charles V and widow of Henry's older brother. Catherine 
The marriage required a dispensation ^ from the ° ^^°^ 
pope, because canon law forbade a man to wed his brother's 
widow. After living happily with Catherine for eighteen years, 
Henry suddenly announced his conviction that the union was 
sinful. This, of course, formed simply a pretext for the divorce 
which Henry desired. Of his children by Catherine only a 
daughter survived, but Henry wished to have a son succeed 
him on the throne. Moreover, he had grown tired of Catherine 
and had fallen in love w^ith Anne Boleyn, a pretty maid-in- 
waiting at the court. 

At first Henry tried to secure the pope's consent to the 
divorce. The pope did not like to set aside the dispensation 
granted by his predecessor, nor did he wish to jj^^ 
offend the mighty emperor Charles V. Failing to divorce, 
get the papal sanction, Henry obtained his 
divorce from an English court presided over by Thomas 
Cranmer, archbishop of Canterbury. Anne Boleyn was then 
proclaimed queen, in defiance of the papal bull of excom- 
munication. 

Henry's next step was to procure from his subservient Parlia- 
ment a series of laws which abolished the pope's authority in 
England. Of these, the most important was the Act of 

I See page 453. 



66o The Reformation and the ReHgious Wars 



Act of 
Supremacy 
1534 A.D. 



Supremacy. It declared the English king to be "the only 
supreme head on earth of the Church of Eng- 
land." At the same time a new treason act 
imposed the death penalty on anyone who called 
the king a ''heretic, schismatic, tyrant, infidel, or usurper." 
The great majority of the English people seem to have 
accepted this new legislation without much objection; those 
who refused to do so perished on the scaffold. The most 
eminent victim w^as Sir Thomas More,^ formerly Henry's Lord 










^^£3' '^^*JiUS-l': ! 



^^^. 



Rums OF INIelrgse Abbey 

The little town of Melrose in Scotland contains the ruins of a very beautiful 
monastery church built about the middle of the fifteenth century. The princi- 
pal part of the present remains is the choir, with slender shafts, richly-carved 
capitals, and windows of exquisite stone-tracery. The beautiful sculptures 
throughout the church were defaced at the time of the Reformation. The 
heart of Robert Bruce is interred near the site of the high altar. 

Chancellor and distinguished for eloquence and profound learn- 
ing. His execution sent a thrill of horror through Christendom. 
The suppression of the monasteries soon followed the separa- 
tion from Rome. Henry declared to Parliament that they 
deserved to be abolished, because of the ''slothful 
and ungodly lives" led by the inmates. In some 
instances this accusation may have been true, but 
the real reason for Henry's action was his desire to crush the 
monastic orders, which supported the pope, and to seize their 

1 See page 613. 



The 

monasteries 

suppressed 



The English Reformation 66 1 

extensive possessions. The beautiful monasteries were torn 
down and the lands attached to them were sold for the benefit 
of the crown or granted to Henry's favorites. The nobles who 
accepted this monastic wealth naturally became zealous advo- 
cates of Henry's anti-papal policy. 

Though Henry VIII had broken with the Papacy, he re- 
mained Roman Catholic in doctrine to the day of his death. 

Under his successor, Edward VI, the Reformation ^ 

Progress 
made rapid progress in England. The young of the 

king's guardian allowed reformers from the Con- Reformation 
tinent to come to England, and the doctrines of Edward VI, 
Luther, Zwingli, and Calvin were freely preached i^i^~^^^^ 
there. At this time all paintings, statuary, wood 
carvings, and stained glass were removed from church edifices. 
The use of tapers, incense, and holy water was also discon- 
tinued. In order that religious services might be conducted in 
the language of the people, Archbishop Cranmer and his co- 
workers prepared the Book of Common Prayer. It consisted 
of translations into noble English of various parts of the old 
Latin service books. With some changes, it is still used in the 
Church of England and the Protestant Episcopal Church of the 
United States. 

The short reign of Mary Tudor, daughter of Catherine of 
Aragon, was marked by a temporary setback to the Protestant 
cause. The queen prevailed on Parliament to ^j^^ Catholic 
secure a reconciliation with Rome. She also reaction 
married her Roman Catholic cousin, Philip of x^dor ^^^ 
Spain, the son of Charles V. Mary now began a 1553-1558 
severe persecution of the Protestants. It gained 
for her the epithet of ''Bloody," but it did not succeed in 
stamping out heresy. Many eminent reformers perished, 
among them Cranmer, the former archbishop. Mary died 
childless, after ruling about five years, and the crown passed to 
Anne Boleyn's daughter, Elizabeth. Under Elizabeth Angli- 
canism again replaced Roman Catholicism as the religion of 
England. 



662 The Reformation and the ReKgious Wars 

234. The Protestant Sects 

The Reformation was practically completed before the close 
of the sixteenth century. In 1500 a.d. the Roman Church 
Extent of embraced all Europe west of Russia and the 

Protestantism Balkan peninsula. By 1575 a.d. nearly half of 
its former subjects had renounced their allegiance. The 




Extent of the Reformation, 1524-15 72, a.d. 

greater part of Germany and Switzerland and all of Denmark, 
Norway^ Sweden, Holland, England, and Scotland became 
independent of the Papacy. The unity of western Christendom, 
which had been preserved throughout the Middle Ages, thus 
disappeared and has not since been revived. 



The Protestant Sects 



663 



The reformers agreed in substituting for the authority of 
popes and church councils the authority of the Bible. They 
went back fifteen hundred years to the time of the common 
Apostles and tried to restore what they believed features of 
to be Apostohc Christianity. Hence they rejected ^° ^^ ^^ ^°^ 
such doctrines and practices as were supposed to have devel- 
oped during the Middle Ages. 
The Reformation also abol- 
ished the monastic system 
and priestly celibacy. The 
sharp distinction between 
clergy and laity disappeared; 
for priests married, lived 
among the people, and no 
longer formed a separate 
class. In general. Protestant- 
ism affirmed the abihty of 
every man to find salvation 
without the aid of ecclesias- 
tics. The Church was no 
longer the only "gate of 
heaven." 

But the Protestant idea of 
authority led inevitably to 
differences of 



Divisions 

among 

Protestants 




Chained Bible 

In the Church of St. Crux, York 



opmion among 
the reformers. 
There were various ways of 
interpreting that Bible to 
which they appealed as the rule of faith and conduct. Con- 
sequently, Protestantism split up into many sects or denomi- 
nations, and these have gone on multiplying to the present 
day. Nearly all, however, are offshoots from the three main 
varieties of Protestantism which appeared in the sixteenth 
century. 

Lutheranism and Anglicanism presented some features in 
common. Both were state churches, supported by the govern- 



664 The Reformation and the Religious Wars 

ment; both had a book of common prayer; and both recog- 
Lutheranism i^i^ed the sacraments of baptism, the eucharist, 
and and confirmation. The Church of England also 

AngUcanism ^^^^ ^^^ sacrament of ordination. The Lutheran 
churches in Denmark, Norway, and Sweden, as well as the 
Church of England, likewise retained the episcopate. 

Calvinism departed much more widely from Roman Catholi- 
cism. It did away with the episcopate and had only one order 
of clergy — the presbyters.^ It provided for a 
very simple form of worship. In a Calvinistic 
church the service consisted of Bible reading, a sermon, ex- 
temporaneous prayers, and hymns sung by the congregation. 
The Calvinists kept only two sacraments, baptism and the 
eucharist. They regarded the first, however, as a simple 
undertaking to bring up the child in a Christian manner, and 
the second as merely a commemoration of the Last Supper. 

The break with Rome did not introduce religious liberty into 

Europe. Nothing was further from the minds of Luther, 

Calvin, and other reformers than the toleration of 
The 

Reformation bcHefs unlike their own. The early Protestant 

and freedom gects punished dissenters as zealously as the 
of thought _ ^, , . , 1 , . XI 

Roman Church punished heretics. Lutherans 

burned the followers of Zwingli in Germany, Calvin put Serve- 
tus to death, and the EngHsh government, in the time of 
Henry VIII and Elizabeth, executed many Roman Catholics. 
Complete freedom of conscience and the right of private judg- 
ment in reHgion have been secured in most European countries 
only within the last hundred years. 

The Reformation, however, did deepen the moral life of 
European peoples. The faithful Protestant or Roman Catholic 
,pjjg vied with his neighbor in trying to show that his 

Reformation particular belief made for better living than any 
and morals Q^^gj-^ The sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, 
in consequence, were more earnest and serious, if also more 
bigoted, than the centuries of the Renaissance. 

1 Churches governed by assemblies of presbyters were called Presbyterian; 
those which allowed each congregation to rule itself were called Congregational. 



The Catholic Counter Reformation 665 

235. The Catholic Counter Reformation 

• The rapid spread of Protestantism soon brought about a 
Catholic Counter Reformation in those parts of Europe which 
remained faithful to Rome. The popes now jj^g 
turned from the cultivation of Renaissance art reforming 
and literature to the defense of their threatened ^°^^^ 
faith. They made needed changes in the papal court and 
appointed to ecclesiastical offices men distinguished for virtue 
and learning. This reform of the Papacy dates from the time 
of Paul III, who became pope in 1534 a.d. He opened the 
college of cardinals to Roman Catholic reformers, even offering 
a seat in it to Erasmus. Still 
more important was his support 
of the famous Society of Jesus, 
which had been established in 
the year of his accession to the 
papal throne. 

The founder of the new so- 
ciety was a Spanish nobleman, 
Ignatius Loyola. He had seen 

a good deal of ser- ^ ^ 

... St. Ignatius 

vice m the wars of Loyola, 

Charles V against ^^^'^^^^ 
the French. While 
in a hospital recovering from a 
wound Loyola read devotional 
books, and these produced a profound change within him. 
He now decided to abandon the career of arms and to become, 
instead, the knight of Christ. So Loyola donned a beggar's 
robe, practiced all the kinds of asceticism which his books 
described, and went on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem. The 
turning-point of his career came with his visit to Paris to 
study theology. Here Loyola met the six devout and tal- 
ented men who became the first members of his society. 
They intended to work as missionaries among the Moslems, 
but, when this plan fell through, they visited Rome and 




Ignatius de Loyola 



666 The Reformation and the ReHgious Wars 

placed their energy and enthusiasm at the disposal of 
the pope. 

Loyola's military training deeply affected the character of 
the new order. The Jesuits, as their Protestant opponents 
The Society styled them, were to be an army of spiritual 
of Jesus soldiers, living under the strictest obedience to 

their head, or general. Like soldiers, again, they were to 
remain in the world, and there fight manfully for the Church 
and against heretics. The society grew rapidly; before Loyola's 
death it included over a thousand members; and in the seven- 
teenth century it became the most influential of aU the religious 
orders.^ The activity of the Jesuits as preachers, confessors, 
teachers, and missionaries did much to roll back the rising tide 
of Protestantism in Europe. 

The Jesuits gave special attention to education, for they 
realized the importance of winning over the young people to 
Jesuit the Church. Their schools were so good that 

schools even Protestant children often attended them. 

The popularity of Jesuit teachers arose partly from the fact 
that they always tried to lead, not drive their pupils. Light 
punishments, short lessons, many hoHdays, and a Hberal use 
of prizes and other distinctions formed some of the attrac- 
tive features of their system of training. It is not surprising 
that the Jesuits became the instructors of the Roman Catholic 
world. They called their colleges the ''fortresses of the faith." 

The missions of the Jesuits were not less important than their 
schools. The Jesuits worked in Poland, Hungary, Bohemia, 
Jesuit and other countries where Protestantism threat- 

missions gj^g(^ ^Q become dominant. Then they invaded 

all the lands which the great maritime discoveries of the preced- 
ing age had laid open to European enterprise. In India, 
China, the East Indies, Japan, the Philippines, Africa, and the 
two Americas their converts from heathenism were numbered 
by hundreds of thousands. 

1 In 1773 A.D. the pope suppressed the society, on the ground that it had out- 
grown its usefulness. It was revived in many European countries during the nine- 
teenth century. 



The Catholic Counter Reformation 667 

The most eminent of all Jesuit missionaries, St. Francis 

Xavier, had belonged to Loyola's original band. He was a 

little, blue-eyed man, an engaging preacher, an ^ ^ 

„ , 1 r .St. Francis 

excellent organizer, and possessed of so attractive Xavier, 

a personality that even the ruffians and pirates 1506-1552 

with whom he had to associate on his voyages 

became his friends. Xavier labored with such devotion and 

success in the Portuguese colonies of the Far East as to gain 

the title of ''Apostle to the Indies." He also- introduced 

Christianity in Japan, where it flourished until a persecuting 

emperor extinguished it with fire and sword. 

Another agency in the Counter Reformation was the great 
Church Council summoned by Pope Paul III. The council 
met at Trent, on the borders of Germany and council of 
Italy. It continued, with intermissions, for nearly Trent, 1545- 
twenty years. The Protestants, though invited ' * 

to participate, did not attend, and hence nothing could be done 
to bring them back within the Roman Catholic fold. This 
was the last general council of the Church for over three hundred 
years.^ 

The Council of Trent made no essential changes in the 
Roman Catholic doctrines, which remained as St. Thomas 
Aquinas ^ and other theologians had set them work of 
forth in the Middle Ages. In opposition to the *^® councU 
Protestant view, it declared that the tradition of the Church 
possessed equal authority with the Bible. It reaffirmed the 
supremacy of the pope over Christendom. The council also 
passed important decrees forbidding the sale of ecclesiastical 
offices and requiring bishops and other prelates to attend 
strictly to their duties. Since the Council of Trent the Roman 
Church has been distinctly a religious organization, instead of 
both a secular and religious body, as was the Church in the 
Middle Ages.^ 

The council, before adjourning, authorized the pope to draw 
up a hst, or Index, of works which Roman CathoHcs might not 

» Until the Vatican Council, held at Rome in 1 869-1 870 a.d. 
2 See page 572. 3 See page 440. 



668 The Reformation and the Rehgious Wars 

read. This action did not form an innovation. The Church 

, , from an early day had condemned and destroyed 

The Index ^ . . . . ^ ^^ , . . ^ ^ 

heretical writmgs. However, the mvention of 

printing, by giving greater currency to new and dangerous 

ideas, increased the necessity for the regulation of thought. 

The "Index of Prohibited Books" still exists, and additions 

to the list are made from time to time. It was matched by 

the strict censorship of printing long maintained in Protestant 

countries. 

Still another agency of the Counter Reformation consisted 
of the Inquisition. This was a system of church courts for the 
The discovery and punishment of heretics. Such 

Inquisition courts had been set up in the Middle Ages, for 
instance, to suppress the Albigensian heresy. After the 
Council of Trent they redoubled their activity, especially in 
Italy, the Netherlands, and Spain. 

The Inquisition probably contributed to the disappearance 
of Protestantism in Italy. In the Netherlands, where it worked 
Influence ^'^th. great severity, it only aroused exasperation 
of the and hatred and helped to provoke a successful 

Inquisition ^.^^^j^ ^^ ^^^ -Dwich people. The Spaniards, on 
the other hand, approved of the methods of the Inquisition and 
welcomed its extermination of Moors and Jews, as well as 
Protestant heretics. The Spanish Inquisition was not abohshed 
till the nineteenth century. 

236. Spain under Philip II, 1556-1598 A.D. 

In 1555 A.D., the year of the Peace of Augsburg,^ Charles V 

determined to abdicate his many crowns and seek the repose of 

. . . a monastery. The plan was duly carried into 

Abdication tt- i i x^ i- it 11 ^ 

of Charles eiiect. His brother lerainand 1 succeeded to the 

V, 1555- ^j^ig Qf Holy Roman Emperor and the Austrian 

1556 A.D. . . , ., , . %,,.,. ^^^ . 1 , 

territories, while his son, Philip 11,^ received the 

Spanish possessions in Italy, the Netherlands, and America. 

There were now two branches of the Hapsburg family — one 

in Austria and one in Spain. 

1 See page 656. 2 See page 677. 



Spain under Philip II 



669 



PhiUp II 



The new king of Spain was a man of unflagging energy, 
strong will, and deep attachment to the Roman Church. As 
a ruler he had two great ideals: to make Spain 
the foremost state in the world and to secure the 
triumph of the Roman Catholic faith over Protestantism. His 
efforts to realize these ideals 
largely determined Euro- 
pean history during the 
second half of the sixteenth 
century. 

The Spanish monarch 
won renown by becoming 
the champion ^^^^^^ ^^ 
of Christen- Lepanto, 

J . ^ 1571 A.D. 

dom against 
the Ottoman Turks. At 
this time the Turks had a 
strong navy, by means of 
which they captured 
Cyprus from the Venetians 
and ravaged Sicily and 
southern Italy. Grave 
danger existed that they 
would soon control all the 
Mediterranean. To stay 
their further progress one 
of the popes preached what 
was really the last crusade. 




Philip II 

After the portrait by Titian 



The fleets of Genoa and Venice united with those of Spain 
and under Don John of Austria, Philip's half-brother, totally 
defeated the Turkish squadron in the gulf of Lepanto, off the 
western coast of Greece. The battle gave a blow to the sea- 
power of the Turks from which they never recovered and 
ended their aggressive warfare in the Mediterranean. Lepanto 
is one of the proud names in the history of Spain. 

Philip had inherited an extensive realm. He further widened 
it by the annexation of Portugal, thus completing the unification 



670 The Reformation and the Religious Wars 



of the Spanish peninsula. The Portuguese colonies 
in Africa, Asia, and America, also passed into 
Spanish hands. The union of Spain and Portugal 
under one crown never commanded any affection among the 
Portuguese, who were proud of their nationaUty and of their 



Annexation of 
Portugal, 
1581 A.D. 




/.- 



The Escorial 



This remarkable edifice, at once a convent, a church, a palace, and a royal mausoleum, 
is situated in a sterile and gloomy wilderness about twenty-seven miles from Madrid. It 
was begun by Philip II in 1563 A. D. and was completed twenty-one years later. The 
Escorial is dedicated to St. Lawrence, that saint's day (August 10, 1557) being the day 
when the Spanish king won a great victory over the French at the battle of St. Quentin. 
The huge dimensions of the Escorial may be inferred from the fact that it includes eighty- 
six staircases, eighty -nine fountains, fifteen cloisters, 1,200 doors. 2,600 windows, and miles 
of corridors. The building material is a granite-like stone obtained in the neighborhood. 
The Escorial contains a library of rare books and manuscripts and a collection of valuable 
paintings. In the royal mausoleum under the altar of the church lie the remains of Charles 
V, Philip II, and many of their successors. 



achievements as explorers and empire-builders. Portugal 

separated from Spain in 1640 a.d. and has since remained an 

independent state. 

But the successes of Philip were more than offset by his 

failures. Though he had vast possessions, enormous revenues, 
mighty fleets, and armies reputed the best of the 
age, he could not dominate western Europe. His 

attempt to conquer England, a stronghold of Protestantism 

under Ehzabeth, resulted in disaster. Npt less disastrous was 

his life-long struggle with the Netherlands. 



Philip's 
failures 



Revolt of the Netherlands 671 



237. Revolt of the Netherlands 

The seventeen provinces of the Netherlands occupied the 
flat, low country along the North Sea — the Holland, Belgium, 
and northern France of the present day. During The 
the fifteenth century they became Hapsburg Netherlands 
possessions and thus belonged to the Holy Roman Empire. 
As we have learned, Charles V received them as a part of his 
inheritance, and he, in turn, transmitted them to Philip II. 

The inhabitants of the Netherlands were not racially united. 
In the southernmost provinces Celtic blood and Romance 
speech prevailed, while farther north dwelt peoples condition 
of Teutonic extraction, who spoke Flemish and of the 
Dutch. Each province likewise kept its own ^* ^^^^ ^ 
government and customs. The prosperity which had marked 
the Flemish cities during the Middle Ages ^ extended in the 
sixteenth century to the Dutch cities also. Rotterdam, Leyden, 
Utrecht, and Amsterdam profited by the geographical discov- 
eries and became centers of extensive commerce with Asia and 
America. The rise of the Dutch power, in a country so exposed 
to destructive inundations of both sea and rivers, is a striking 
instance of what can be accomplished by a frugal, industrious 
population. 

The Netherlands were too near Germany not to be affected 
by the Reformation. Lutheranism soon appeared there, only 
to encounter the hostiUty of Charles V, who intro- Protestantism 
duced the terrors of the Inquisition. Many heretics in the 
were burned at the stake, or beheaded, or buried ^^^^^ ^^^^ 
alive. But there is no seed like martyr's blood. The number 
of Protestants swelled, rather than lessened, especially after 
Calvinism entered the Netherlands. As a Jesuit historian re- 
marked, " Nor did the Rhine from Germany or the Meuse from 
France send more water into the Low Countries than by the 
one the contagion of Luther, and by the other that of Calvin, 
were imported into these provinces." 

In spite of the cruel treatment of heretics by Charles V, 

1 Seepages 550-SSi. 



672 The Reformation and the Religious Wars 



Alva sent 
to the 

Netherlands, 
1567 A.D. 



both Flemish and Dutch remained loyal to the emperor, 
Policy of because he had been born and reared among 

Phihp II them and always considered their country as his 

own. But PhiUp II, a Spaniard by birth and sympathies, 
seemed to them only a foreign master. The new ruler did 
nothing to conciliate the people. He never visited the Nether- 
lands after 1559 a.d., but governed them despotically through 
Spanish officials supported by Spanish garrisons. Arbitrary 
taxes were levied, cities and nobles were deprived of their 
cherished privileges, and the activity of the Inquisition was 
redoubled. Philip intended to exercise in the Netherlands the 
same absolute power which he enjoyed in Spain. 

The religious persecution which by Philip's orders raged 
through the Netherlands everywhere aroused intense indigna- 
tion. The result was rioting by 
mobs of Protes- 
tants, who wrecked 
churches and mon- 
asteries and carried 
off the treasure they found in 
them. Philip replied to these 
acts by sending his best army, 
under the duke of Alva, his best 
general, to reduce the turbulent 
provinces into submission. 

Alva carried out with thorough- 
ness the policy of his royal 
master. A tribunal, popularly 
known as the "Council of Blood," was set up for the pun- 
Outbreak of ishment of treason and heresy. Hundreds, and 
the revolt probably thousands, perished; tens of thousands 
fled to Germany and England. Alva, as governor-general, 
also raised enormous taxes, which threatened to destroy the 
trade and manufactures of the Netherlands. Under these 
circumstances Roman Catholics and Protestants, nobles and 
townsfolk, united against their Spanish oppressors. A revolt 
began which Spain could never queU. 




William the Silent 



Revolt of the Netherlands 



673 



The Netherlands found a leader in William, Prince of Orange, 
later known as William the Silent, because of his customary- 
discreetness. He was of German birth, a convert -wmiam the 
to Protestantism, and the owner of large estates Silent, 1533- 
in the Netherlands. William had fair ability as a ^^^* ^'^' 
general, a statesmanlike grasp of the situation, and above all a 
stout, courageous heart which never wavered in moments of 
danger and defeat. To rescue the Netherlands from Spain he 
sacrificed his high 
position, his wealth, 
and eventually his 
life. 

The ten southern 
provinces of the 
Netherlands, mainly 
Roman Catholic in 



POP^- Separation 

lation, of the 

Netherlands 
soon 

effected a reconcil- 
iation with Philip 
and returned to 
their allegiance. 
They remained in 
Hapsburg hands for 
over two centuries. 
Modern Belgium 
has grown out of 
them. The seven 
northern provinces, 
where Dutch was 

the language and Protestantism the religion, formed in 1579 
A.D. the Union of Utrecht. Two years later they declared 
their independence of Spain. Thus the republic of the United 
Netherlands, often known as Holland, the most important of 
the seven provinces, came into being. 
The struggle of the Dutch for freedom forms one of the 




The Netherlands in the Sixteenth 
Century 



674 The Reformation and the Religious Wars 

most notable episodes in history. At first they were no match 
Course of for the disciplined Spanish soldiery, but they 
the revolt fought bravely behind the walls of their cities and 
on more than one occasion repelled the enemy by cutting the 
dikes and letting in the sea. Though William the Silent perished 
in a dark hour by an assassin's bullet, the contest continued. 
England now came to the aid of the hard-pressed republic 
with money and a small army. Philip turned upon his new 
antagonist and sent against England the great fleet called the 
^'Invincible Armada." Its destruction interfered with further 
attempts to subjugate the Dutch, but the Spanish monarch, stub- 
born to the last, refused to acknowledge their independence. His 
successor, in 1609 a.d., consented to a twelve years' truce with 
the revolted provinces. Their freedom was recognized officially 
by Spain at the close of the Thirty Years' War in 1648 a.d. 

The long struggle bound the Dutch together and made them 
one nation. During the seventeenth century they took a 
The Dutch prominent part in European affairs. The republic 
Repubhc which they founded ought to be of special interest 

to Americans, for many features of our national government 
are Dutch in origin. To Holland we owe the idea of a declara- 
tion of independence, of a written constitution, of religious 
toleration, and of a comprehensive school system supported by 
taxation. In these and other matters the Dutch were pioneers 
of modern democracy. 

238. England under Elizabeth, 1558-1603 A.D. 

Queen Elizabeth, who reigned over England during the 

period of the Dutch revolt, came to the throne when about 

„,. , , twenty-five years old. She was tall and com- 

Elizabeth ,. . 11,-1 

mandmg in presence and endowed with great 

physical vigor and endurance. After hunting all day or 

dancing all night she could still attend unremittingly to public 

business. Elizabeth had received an excellent education; she 

spoke Latin and several modern languages; knew a little 

Greek; and displayed some skill in music. To her father, 

Henry VIII, she doubtless owed her tactfulness and charm of 



England under Elizabeth 



675 



manner, as well as her imperious will; she resembled her 
mother, Anne Boleyn, in her vanity and love of display. As a 
ruler Elizabeth was shrewd, far-sighted, a good judge of char- 
acter, and willing to be guided by the able counselors who sur- 
rounded her. Above all, Eliz- 
abeth was an ardent patriot. 
She understood and loved 
her people, and they, in turn, 
felt a chivalrous devotion to 
the ''Virgin Queen," to 
"Good Queen Bess." 

The daughter of Anne 
Boleyn had been born under 
the ban of the pope, so that 
opposition to Rome was the 
natural course Protestantism 
for her to pursue. ^° England 
Two acts of Parliament now 
separated England once more 
from the Papacy and gave the 
Enghsh Church practically 
the form and doctrines w^hich 
it retains to-day. The church 
was intended to include every- 
one in England, and hence 
all persons were required to attend religious exercises on 
Sundays and holy days. Refusal to do so exposed the 
offender to a fine. 

The great body of the people soon conformed to the state 
church, but Roman Catholics could not conscientiously attend 
its services. The laws against them do not seem xreatment 
to have been strictly enforced at first, but in the of Roman 
later years of Elizabeth's reign real or suspected 
plots by Roman Catholics against her throne led to a pohcy 
of repression. Those who said or heard mass were heavily 
fined and imprisoned; those who brought papal bulls into 
England or converted Protestants to Roman Catholicism were 




Elizabeth 



676 The Reformation and the ReHgious Wars 




executed as traitors. Several hundred priests, mostly Jesuits, 
suffered death, and many more languished in jail. This per- 
secution, however necessary it may have seemed to Elizabeth 
and her advisers, is a blot on her reign. 

The Reformation made little progress in Ireland. Henry 
VIII, who had extended EngHsh sway over most of the island. 
Protestantism suppressed the monasteries, demolished shrines, 
in Ireland relics, and images, and placed English-speaking 
priests in charge of the churches. The Irish people, who 
remained loyal to Rome, regarded these measures as the tyran- 
nical acts of a for- 
eign government. 
During Eliza- 
beth's reign there 
were several dan- 
gerous revolts, 
which her gen- 
erals suppressed 
with great cru- 
elty. The result 
was to widen the breach between England and Ireland. 
Henceforth to most Irishmen patriotism became identified 
with Roman Catholicism. 

Many of the plots against Ehzabeth centered about Mary 
Stuart, the ill-starred Queen of Scots. She was a grand- 
Elizabeth daughter of Henry VII, and extreme Roman 
Queen ^f Catholics claimed that she had a better right to 
Scots the English throne than Elizabeth, because the 
pope had declared the marriage of Henry VIII and Anne 
Boleyn null and void. Mary, a fervent Roman CathoUc, did 
not please her Scotch subjects, who had adopted Calvinistic 
doctrines. She also discredited herself by marrying the man 
who had murdered her former husband. An uprising of the 
Scottish nobles compelled Mary to abdicate the throne in favor 
of her infant son ^ and to take refuge in England. Elizabeth 

1 James VI of Scotland. On Elizabeth's death he became king of England as 
James I. See page 511, note i. 



Silver Crown of Elizabeth's Reign 



England under Elizabeth 



677 



kept her rival in captivity for nearly twenty years. In 1586 
A.D., the former queen was found guilty of conspiring against 
Elizabeth's life and was beheaded. 

Philip II, the king of Spain, also threatened Elizabeth's 
security. At the outset of her reign Philip had made her an 
offer of marriage, but she refused to give herself, Elizabeth 
or England, a Spanish master. As time went on, ^^^ Philip li 
PhiHp turned into an open enemy of the Protestant queen and 




London BRrocE in the Time of Elizabeth 

The old structure was completed early in the thirteenth century. It measured 924 
feet in length and had 20 narrow arches. Note the rows of houses and shops on the 
bridge, the chapel in the center, and the gate above which the heads of traitors were 
exhibited on pikes. The present London Bridge was completed in 183 1 a.d. 



did his best to stir up sedition among her Roman Catholic 
subjects. It must be admitted that Philip could plead 
strong justification for his attitude. Elizabeth allowed the 
English ''sea dogs" ^ to plunder Spanish colonies and seize 
Spanish vessels laden with the treasure of the New World. 
Moreover, she aided the rebellious Dutch, at first secretly and 
at length openly, in their struggle against Spain. Philip put 
up with these aggressions for many years, but finally came to 
the conclusion that he could never subdue the Netherlands or 

1 See page 639. 



678 The Reformation and the Religious Wars 

end the piracy and smuggHng in Spanish America without 
first conquering England. The execution of Mary Stuart 
removed his last doubts, for Mary had left him her claims to 
the English throne. He at once made ready to invade England. 
Philip seems to have believed that as soon as a Spanish army 
landed in the island, the Roman Catholics would rally to his 
cause. But the Spanish king never had a chance to verify his 
behef ; the decisive battle took place on the sea. 




The Spanish Armada in the English Channel 

After an engraving by the Society of Antiquarians following a tapestry in the 
House of Lords. 



PhiKp had not completed his preparations before Sir Francis 
Drake sailed into Cadiz harbor and destroyed a vast amount 
The of naval stores and shipping. This exploit, which 

ArSldT."^^ Drake called ^'singeing the king of Spain's beard," 
1588 A.D. delayed the expedition for a year. The " Invinci- 
ble Armada" ^ set out at last in 1588 a.d. The Spanish vessels, 
though somewhat larger than those of the English, were in- 
ferior in number, speed, and gunnery to their adversaries, 
while the Spanish officers, mostly unused to the sea, were no 

1 Armada was a Spanish name for any armed fleet. 



The Huguenot Wars in France 679 

match for men Hke Drake, Frobisher, and Raleigh, the best 
mariners of the age. The Armada suffered severely in a 
nine-days' fight in the Channel, and many vessels which 
escaped the English guns met shipwreck off the Scotch and 
Irish coasts. Less than half of the Armada returned in 
safety to Spain. 

England in the later Middle Ages had been an important 
naval power, as her abihty to carry on the Hundred Years' 
War in France amply proved. But in the six- English 
teenth century she was greatly over-matched by sea-power 
Spain, especially after the annexation of Portugal added the 
naval forces of that country to the Spanish fleets. The defeat 
of the Armada not only did great harm to the navy and com- 
merce of Spain; it also showed that a new people had arisen 
to claim the supremacy of the ocean. Henceforth the English 
began to build up what was to be a sea-power greater than any 
other known to history. 

239. The Huguenot Wars in France 

By 1500 A.D. France had become a centralized state under a 
strong monarchy.^ Francis I, who reigned in the first half of 
the sixteenth century, still further exalted the France under 
royal power. He had many wars with Charles V, i5i5"i547 
whose extensive dominions nearly surrounded the A.D. 
French kingdom. These wars prevented the emperor from 
making France a mere dependency of Spain. As we have 
learned,^ they also interfered with the efforts of Charles V to 
crush the Protestants in Germany. 

Protestantism in France dates from the time of Francis I. 
The Huguenots,^ as the French Protestants were called, naturally 
accepted the doctrines of Calvin, who was himself The 
a Frenchman and whose books were written in the Huguenots 
French language. Though bitterly persecuted by Francis I 
and by his son Henry H (1547-15 59 a.d.),. the Huguenots 

1 See page 519. 2 See page 654. 

' The origin of the name is not known with certainty. 



68o The Reformation and the Religious Wars 

gained a large following, especially among the prosperous 
middle class of the towns — the bourgeoisie. Many nobles 
also became Huguenots, sometimes because of religious convic- 
tion, but often because the new movement offered them an 
opportunity to recover their feudal independence and to plunder 
the estates of the Church. In France, as well as in Germany , 
the Reformation had its worldly side. 

During most of the second half of the sixteenth century 
fierce conflicts raged in France between the Roman Catholics 
Civil war and the Huguenots. Philip II aided the former 

in France g^j^^ Queen Elizabeth gave some assistance to the 
latter. France suffered terribly in the struggle, not only from 
the constant fighting, which cost the lives, it is said, of more 
than a miUion people, but also from the pillage, burnings, 
and other barbarities in which both sides indulged. The 
wealth and prosperity of the country visibly declined, and 
all patriotic feeling disappeared in the hatreds engendered 
by a civil war. 

The episode known as the massacre of St. Bartholomew's 

Day illustrates the extremes to which political ambition and 

Massacre religious bigotry could lead. The massacre was 

of St. ^^ attempt to extirpate the Huguenots, root and 

Bartholo- , , • , m i i 

mew's Day, branch, at a time when peace prevailed between 

1572 A.D. them and their opponents. The person primarily 
responsible for it was Catherine de' Medici, mother of Charles 
IX (1560-15 74 A.D.), the youthful king of France. Charles 
had begun to cast off the sway of his mother and to come under 
the influence of Admiral de Coligny, the most eminent of the 
Huguenots. To regain her power Catherine first tried to have 
Coligny murdered. When the plot failed, she invented the 
story of a great Huguenot uprising and induced her weak- 
minded son to authorize a wholesale butchery of Huguenots. 
It began in Paris in the early morning of August 24, 1572 
A.D.,^ and extended to the provinces, where it continued for 
several weeks. Probably ten thousand Huguenots w^ere slain^ 
including Coligny himself. But the deed was a blunder as 

1 St. Bartholomew's Day. 



The Huguenot Wars in France 68 1 

well as a crime. The Huguenots took up arms to defend 
themselves, and France again experienced all the horrors of 
internecine strife. 

The death of CoHgny transferred the leadership of the Hugue- 
nots to Henry Bourbon, king of Navarre.^ Seventeen years 

after the massacre of St. Bartholomew's Day, he „ 

^ Henry IV 

inherited the French crown as Henry IV. The 

Roman Catholics would not accept a Protestant ruler and 
continued the conflict. Henry soon realized that only his con- 
version to the faith of the majority of his subjects would bring 
a lasting peace. Religious opinions had always sat lightly 
upon him, and he found no great difficulty in becoming a 
Roman CathoHc. ''Paris," said Henry, ''was well worth a 
mass." Opposition to the king soon collapsed, and the 
Huguenot wars came to an end. 

Though now a Roman Catholic, Henry did not break with 
the Huguenots. In 1598 a.d. he issued in their interest the 
celebrated Edict of Nantes. By its terms the ^^^^^ ^^ 
Huguenots were to enjoy freedom of private wor- Nantes, 
ship everyw^here in France, and freedom to worship 
publicly in a large number of villages and towns. Only Roman 
Catholic services, however, might be held in Paris and at the 
royal court. Though the edict did not grant complete religious 
liberty, it marked an important step in that direction. A 
great European state now for the first time recognized the 
principle that two rival faiths might exist side by side within 
its borders. The edict was thus the most important act of 
toleration since the age of Constantine.^ 

Having settled the religious difficulties, Henry could take up 
the work of restoring prosperity to distracted France under 
France. His interest in the welfare of his subjects issg^^ieio 
gained for him the name of "Good King Henry." A.D. 
With the help of Sully, his chief minister, the king reformed 

1 Navarre originally formed a small kingdom on both sides of the Pyrenees. 
The part south of these mountains was acquired by Spain in 15 13 a.d. See the 
map on page 521. 

» See page 235. 



682 The Reformation and the ReHgious Wars 



the finances and extinguished the pubhc debt. He opened 
roads, buih bridges, and dug canals, thus aiding the restoration 

of agriculture. He also encour- 
aged commerce by means of 
royal bounties for shipbuilding. 
The French at this time began 
to have a navy and to compete 
with the Dutch and English 
for trade on the high seas. 
Henry's work of renovation was 
cut short in 1610 a.d. by an 
assassin's dagger. Under his 
son Louis XIII (1610-1643 a.d.), 
a long period of disorder fol- 
lowed, until an able minister, 
Cardinal Richelieu, assumed the 
guidance of public affa.irs. 
Richelieu for many years was 
the real ruler of France. His 
foreign policy led to the inter- 
vention of that country in the 
international conflict known as the Thirty Years' War. 




Cardinal Richelieu 

National Gallery, London 

After the portrait by the Belgian artist, 
Philippe de Champaigne. 



240. The Thirty Years' War, 1618-1648 A.D. 

The Peace of Augsburg ^ gave repose to Germany for more 
than sixty years, but it did not form a complete settlement of 
Religious the religious question in that country. There 

antagonisms ^^^ gj-jj^ room for bitter disputes, especially over 
the ownership of Church property which had been secularized 
in the course of the Reformation. Furthermore, the peace 
recognized only Roman Catholics and Lutherans and gave no 
rights whatever to the large body of Calvinists. The failure 
of Lutherans and Calvinists to cooperate weakened German 
Protestantism just at the period when the Counter Reformation 
inspired Roman Catholicism with fresh energy and enthusiasm. 

Politics, as well as rehgion, also helped to bring about the 
1 See page 656. 



The Thirty Years' War 683 

great conflagration. The Roman Catholic party rehed for 
support on the Hapsburg emperors, who wished Political 
to unite the German states under their control, friction 
thus restoring the Holy Roman Empire to its former proud 
position in the affairs of Europe. The Protestant princes, on 
the other hand, w^anted to become independent sovereigns. 
Hence they resented all efforts to extend the imperial authority 
over them. 

The Thirty Years' War was not so much a single conflict as a 
series of conflicts, which ultimately involved nearly all western 
Europe. It began in Bohemia, where Protestant- ^j^^ 
ism had not been extinguished by the Hussite Bohemian 
wars.^ The Bohemian nobles, many of whom ^^^°^* 
were Calvinists, revolted against Hapsburg rule and proclaimed 
the independence of Bohemia. The German Lutherans gave 
them no aid, however, and the emperor, Ferdinand II, easily 
put down the insurrection. Many thousands of Protestants 
were now driven into exile. Those who remained in Bohemia 
were obliged to accept Roman Cathohcism. Thus one more 
country was lost to Protestantism. 

The failure of the Bohemian revolt aroused the greatest alarm 
in Germany. Ferdinand threatened to follow in the footsteps 
of Charles V and to crush Protestantism in the land Danish 
of its birth. When, therefore, the king of Den- intervention 
mark, who as duke of Holstein had great interest in German 
affairs, decided to intervene, both Lutherans and Calvinists 
supported him. But Wallenstein, the emperor's able general, 
proved more than a match for the Danish king, who at length 
withdrew from the contest. 

So far the Roman Catholic and imperial party had triumphed. 

Ferdinand's success led him to issue the Edict of Restitution, 

which compelled the Protestants to restore all ^^i^.^ of 

the Church property .which they had taken since Restitution, 

1629 A D 
the Peace of Augsburg. The enforcement of the 

edict brought about renewed resistance on the part of the 

Protestants. 

^ See page 650. 



684 The Reformation and the Religious Wars 



Adolphus 
and the 
intervention 
of Sweden 



There now appeared the single heroic figure on the stage of 
the Thirty Years' War. This was Gustavus Adolphus, king of 
Gustavus Sweden, and a man of mihtary genius. He had 

the deepest sympathy for his fellow-Protestants 
in Germany and regarded himself as their divinely 
appointed deliverer. By taking part in the war 
Gustavus also hoped to conquer the coast of northern Germany. 

The Baltic would then become a 
Swedish lake, for Sweden already 
possessed Finland and what are 
now the Russian provinces on the 
Baltic. 

Gustavus entered Germany with 
a strong force of disciplined soldiers 
Gustavus and tried to form alli- 
Adoiphus in ances with the Prot- 

Germany, . 

1630-1632 estant prmces. iney 
^•^- received him coolly at 

first, for the Swedish king seemed to 
them only a foreign invader. Just 
at this time the imperialists captured 
Magdeburg, the largest and most 
prosperous city in northern Germany. 
At least twenty thousand of the inhabitants perished miserably 
amid the smoking ruins of their homes. This massacre turned 
Protestant sentiment toward Gustavus as the ''Lion of the 
North" who had come to preserve Germany from destruction. 
With the help of his allies Gustavus reconquered most of 
Germany for the Protestants, but he fell at the battle of 
Liitzen in the moment of victory. His work, however, was 
done. The Swedish king had saved the cause of Protestantism 
in Germany. 

After the death of Gustavus the war assumed more and 
Richelieu more a political character. The German Protes- 

fntervention tants found an ally, strangely enough, in Cardinal 
of France Richelieu, the all-powerful minister of the French 
king. Richelieu entered the struggle in order to humble the 




Gustavus Adolphus 



After the portrait by the Flemish 
artist, Sir Anthony Van Dyck. 



The Thirty Years' War 685 

Austrian Hapsburgs and extend the boundaries of France 
toward the Rhine, at the expense of the Holy Roman Empire. 
Since the Spanish Hapsburgs were aiding their Austrian kins- 
men, Richeheu naturally fought against Spain also. The war 
thus became a great international conflict in which religion 
played only a minor part. The Holy Roman Emperor had to 
3deld at last and consented to the treaties of peace signed at 
two cities in the province of Westphalia. 

The Peace of Westphalia ended the long series of wars which 
followed the Reformation. It practically settled the religious 
question, for it allowed Calvinists in Germany to peace of 
enjoy the same privileges as Lutherans and also Westphalia, 
withdrew the Edict of Restitution. Nothing was 
said in the treaties about liberty of conscience, but from this 
time the idea that religious differences should be settled by 
force gradually passed away from the minds of men. 

The political clauses of the peace w^re numerous. France 
received nearly all of Alsace along the Rhine. Sweden gained 
possessions in North Germany. Brandenburg — Territorial 
the future kingdom of Prussia — secured additional readjust- 
territory on the Baltic Sea. The independence of ^^^ ^ 
Switzerland ^ and of the United Netherlands ^ was also recognized. 

The Peace of Westphalia left Germany more divided than 
ever. Each one of the larger states was free to coin money, 
raise armies, make war, and negotiate treaties Disruption of 
without consulting the emperor. In fact, the Germany 
Holy Roman Empire had become a mere phantom. The 
Hapsburgs from now on devoted themselves to their Austrian 
dominions, which included more Magyars and Slavs than 
Germans. The failure of the Hapsburgs in the Thirty Years' 
War long postponed the unification of Germany. 

During the Thirty Years' War Germany had seen most of 
the fighting. She suffered from it to the point of exhaustion. 
The population dwindled from about sixteen Exhaustion 
million to one-half, or, as some believe, to one- ^^ Germany 
third that number. The loss of life was partly due to the 

1 See page 524, note i. 2 See page 673. 



686 The Reformation and the Religious Wars 

fearful epidemics, such as typhus fever and the bubonic plague, 
which spread over the land in the wake of the invading armies. 
Hundreds of villages were destroyed or were abandoned by 
their inhabitants. Much of the soil went out of cultivation, 
while trade and manufacturing nearly disappeared. Added to 
all this was the decline of education, hterature, and art, and the 
brutalizing of the people in mind and morals. It took Germany 
at least one hundred years to recover from the injury inflicted 
by the Thirty Years' War; complete recovery, indeed, came 
only in the nineteenth century. 

The savagery displayed by all participants in the Thirty 
Years' War could not but impress thinking men with the 
Rise of necessity of formulating rules to protect non- 

international combatants, to care for prisoners, and to do away 
with pillage and massacre. The worst horrors of 
the war had not taken place, before a Dutch jurist, named 
Hugo Grotius, 'published at Paris in 1625 a.d. a work On the 
Laws of War and Peace. It may be said to have founded 
international law. The success of the book was remarkable. 
Gustavus Adolphus carried a copy about with him during 
his campaigns, and its leading doctrines were recognized and 
acted upon in the Peace of Westphalia. 

The great principle on which Grotius based his recommenda- 
tions was the independence of sovereign states. He gave up 
The Euro- ^^^ medieval conception of a temporal and spiritual 
pean state head of Christendom. The nations now recog- 
sys em nized no common superior, whether emperor or 

pope, but all were equal in the sight of international law. The 
book of Grotius thus marked the profound change which had 
come over Europe since the Middle Ages. 

Studies 

I. On an outline map indicate the European countries ruled by Charies V. 
2. On an outline map indicate the principal territorial changes made by the Peace 
of Westphalia. 3. Identify the following dates: 1648 a.d.; 1519 a.d.; 1517 a.d.; 
1588 A.D.; 1598 A.D.; and 1555 a.d. 4. Locate the following places: Avignon; 
Constance; Augsburg; Ziirich; Worms; Magdeburg; and Utrecht. 5. For what 
were the following persons noted: Cardinal Wolsey; Admiral de Coligny; Duke of 
Alva; Richelieu; St. Ignatius Loyola; Boniface VIII; Frederick the Wise; Gustavus 



The Thirty Years' War 687 

Adolphus; and Mary Queen of Scots? 6. Compare the scene at Anagni with the 
scene at Canossa. 7. On the map, page 646, trace the geographical extent of the 
"Great Schism." 8. Name three important reasons for the lessened influence of 
the Roman Church at the opening of the sixteenth century. 9. Explain the differ- 
ence between heresy and schism. 10. Why has Wycliffe been called the "morning 
star of the Reformation"? 11. Compare Luther's work in fixing the form of the 
German language with Dante's service to Italian through the Divine Comedy. 
12. What is the origin of the name "Protestant"? 13. Whj^ was Mary naturally a 
Catholic and Elizabeth naturally a Protestant? 14. On the map, page 662, trace 
the geographical extent of the Reformation in the sixteenth century. 15. Why 
did the reformers in each country take special pains to translate the Bible into the 
vernacular? 16. What is the chief difference in mode of government between 
Presbyterian and Congregational churches? 17. "The heroes of the Reformation, 
judged by modern standards, were reactionaries." What does this statement 
mean? 18. Why is the Council of Trent generally considered the most important 
church coimcil since that of Nicaea? 19. Mention some differences between the 
Society of Jesus and earlier monastic orders. 20. Compare the Edict of Nantes 
with the Peace of Augsburg. 21. Show how political, as well as religious, motives 
affected the revolt of the Netherlands, the Huguenot wars, and the Thirty Years' 
War. 22. Compare the effects of the Thirty Years' War on Germany with the 
effects 6f the Hundred Years' War on France. 23. What would you say of Hol- 
bein's success as a portrait painter (illustrations, pages 651, 65S)? 



APPENDIX 

TABLE OF EVENTS AND DATES i 

(Specially important dates are in italics) 

B.C. ^^® Orient 

3400 Menes, king of Egypt 
3000-2500 The p3n:aniid kings 
2000 Hammurabi, king of Babylonia 
1 800-1 600 Rule of the Hyksos in Egypt 
129 2- 1225 Rameses II, king of Egypt 
io35~92S The undivided Hebrew monarchy 
Saul, 1035-1015 
David, 985-955 
Solomon, 955^925 
925-722 Kingdom of Israel 
925-586 Kingdom of Judea 
722-705 Sargon II, king of Assyria 
705-681 Sennacherib, king of Assyria 
606 Destruction of Nineveh 
604-561 Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylonia 
553-465 Persian kings 

Cyrus the Great, 553-529 

Cambyses, 529-522 

Darius I, 521-485 

Xerxes I, 485-465 
5JP Capture of Babylon by Cyrus the Great 

B.C. Greece 

1600-1100 The^EgeanAge 
1100-750 Homeric Age 
77(5 First recorded Olympiad 
750-500 Period of colonial expansion 
594-593 Reforms of Solon 
560-527 Tyranny of Pisistratus 

^ Before 1000 B.C., and in some instances even later, nearly all dates 
must be regarded as merely approximate. 

688 



Appendix 689 

508-507 Reforms of Clisthenes 

499-493 Ionian Revolt 

4go Battle of Marathon 

480 Battles of Thermo pylm and Salamis 

47 g Battles of Platcea and Mycale 

477~454 Delian League 

461-429 Age of Pericles 

4JI-404 The Peloponnesian War 

404-371 Spartan supremacy 

401-400 Expedition of the "Ten Thousa}zd" 

371-362 Supremacy of Thebes 

j/i Battle of Leuctra 

362 Battle of Mantinea 

359-336 Philip II, king of Macedonia 

jj8 Battle of Chccronea 

336-323 Reign of Alexander the Great 

335 Destruction of Thebes 

334 Battle of the Granicus 

333 Battle of Issus 

332 Siege of Tyre; founding of Alexandria 

jji Battle of Arbela 

J2J Death of Alexander 

The Roman Republic 

753 (?) Founding of Rome 

753 (?)-509 (?) Legendary Roman kings 

509 (?) EstabKshment of the repubHc 

449 Laws of the Twelve Tables 

jgo (?) Battle of the Alii a; capture of Rome by the Gauls 

340-338 Latin War; dissolution of the Latin League 

327-290 Samnite Wars 

281-272 War between Rome and Tarentum; invasion of Pyrrhus 

264-241 First Punic War 

218-201 Second Punic War 

216 Battle of Cannas 

202 Battle of Zama 

201 Peace between Rome and Carthage 

197 Macedonia becomes a dependent aUy of Rome 

190 Syria becomes a dependent ally of Rome 

149-146 Third Punic War 

146 Destruction of Carthage and Corinth; Africa and Macedonia become 

Roman provinces 
133 Acquisition of the province of Asia; final subjugation of Spain 



690 Appendix 

133 Tribunate of Tiberius Gracchus 

123-122 Tribunate of Gaius Gracchus 

1 1 2- 1 06 Jugurthine War 

102-101 Invasion of the Germans 

90-88 The Social War 

88-84 War with Mithridates 

83-82 Civil War between Marius and Sulla 

82-79 Dictatorship of Sulla 

70 Impeachment of Verres 

67 Pompey and the war mth the pirates 

6 J Conspiracy of Catiline 

60-53 First Triumvirate: Pompey, Crassus, and Csesar 

58-50 Conquest of Gaul by Caesar 

53 Defeat of Crassus by the Parthians at Carrhae 

48 Battle of Pharsalus 

44 Assassination of CcEsar 

43 Second Triumvirate: Lepidus, Antony, and Octavian 

42 Battles of PhiHppi 

31 Battle of Actium 

The Roman Empire 

31 B.C.-68 A.D. The Julian and Claudian Caesars 

Augustus, 31 B.C.-14 A.D. 

Tiberius, 14-37 

Gaius (Caligula), 37-41 

Claudius, 41-54 

Nero 54-68 
27 Octa\H[an receives the title Augustus 
4 (?) Birth of Christ 

A.D. 

43-85 Conquest of Britain 

64 The Great Fire in Rome; Nero's persecution of the Christians 

68-69 The year of military revolution; Galba, Otho, and Vitellius emperors 

69-96 The Flavian Caesars 

Vespasian, 69-79 

Titus, 79-81 

Domitian, 81-96 
70 Capture of Jerusalem by Titus 
7P Destruction of Pompeii and Herculaneum 
96-180 The " Good Emperors " 

Nerva, 96-98 

Trajan, 98-117 

Hadrian, 11 7-138 



Appendix 691 



Antoninus Pius, 138-16 1 

Marcus Aurelius, 161-180 
10 1- 106 Conquest of Dacia by Trajan 
180-284 The ' ' Soldier Emperors ' ' 

Commodus, 180-192 

Septimius Severus, 193-21 1 

Aurelian, 270-275 
212 Edict of Caracalla 

227 Rise of the Sassanian or New Persian Empire 
284 Reorganization of the Roman Empire by Diocletian 
284-395 The "Absolute Emperors" 

J Diocletian, 284-305 

\Maximian, 286-305 
Constantine I, 306-337 (sole emperor, 324-337) 
Julian, 361-363 
Theodosius I (East), 379-395 

311 Edict of Galerius 

312 Battle of the MUvian Bridge 
jij Edict of Milan 

325 Council of Nicaa 

326-330 Removal of the capital to Constantinople 

376 The Visigoths cross the Danube 

378 Battle of Adrianople 

395 Death of Theodosius I 

410 Capture of Rome by Alaric 

415-711 Visigothic kingdom in Spain (in Gaul, 415-507) 

429-534 Vandal kingdom in Africa 

443~534 Kingdom of the Burgundians 

449 Invasion of Britain by the Anglo-Saxons 

451 Battle of Chalons 

455 Sack of Rome by the Vandals 

476 Deposition of Romulus Angustulus 

The Middle Ages 

486 Clovis defeats the Romans at Soissons 

493~553 Ostrogothic kingdom in Italy 

496 Clovis accepts Christianity 

527-565 Justinian, Roman emperor in the East 

529 (?) Rule of St. Benedict 

568-774 Lombards in Italy 

590-604 Pontificate of Gregory the Great 

597 Augustine's mission to the Anglo-Saxons 

610-641 Heraclius, Roman emperor in the East 



692 Appendix 

622 The Hegira 

632-661 The ''Orthodox CaHphs" 

661-750 The Ommiad Caliphs 

711 Arabs and Berbers invade Spain 

716-717 Siege of Constantinople by the Arabs I; 

7J2 Battle of Tours | 

750-1058 The Abbassid Caliphs 

768-814 Reign of Charlemagne 

800 Charlemagne crowned Emperor of the Romans 

829 England united under Egbert 

843 Treaty of Verdun 

862 (?) Northmen under Ruric settle in Russia 

870 Treaty of Mersen 

871-901 (?) Reign of Alfred the Great 

911 Northmen settle in northwestern France (Normandy) 

Q62 Otto the Great crowned Holy Roman Emperor 

982 Greenland discovered 

987-996 Reign of Hugh Capet 

988 Christianity introduced into Russia 

1000 (?) Vinland discovered 

10 1 6 England conquered by Canute 

1054 Final rupture of Greek and Roman churches 

1066 Battle of Hastings; Norman conquest of England 

1066-108 7 William I, the Conqueror, king of England 

1073-108 5 Pontificate of Gregory VII 

1077 Humiliation of Henry IV at Canossa 

1090-1153 St. Bernard 

1095-1291 The Crusades 

logs Council of Clermont 

1099 Capture of Jerusalem 

1147-1149 Second Crusade 

1189-1192 Third Crusade 

1 202-1 204 Fourth Crusade; sack of Constantinople 

1204-1261 Latin Empire of Constantinople 

I2gi Fall of Acre; end of the crusades 
1 1 22 Concordat of Worms 
1 15 2-1 190 Reign of Frederick I, Barbarossa 
1 1 54-1 189 Henry II, king of England 
1 180-12 23 Philip II, Augustus, king of France 
1 18 1 (?)-i2 26 St. Francis of Assisi 
1 198-12 16 Pontificate of Innocent III 
1 206-1 2 27 Mongol conquests under Jenghiz Khan 
12 1 s Magna Carta 



Appendix 693 

122 6- 1270 Louis IX, the Saint, king of France 

1230 Union of Leon and Castile 

1 237-1 240 Mongol conquest of Russia 

1 254-1 2 73 The Interregnum 

1 26 1 Fall of Latin Empire of Constantinople 

1271-1295 Travels of Marco Polo 

1 272-1307 Edward I, king of England 

1273 Rudolf of Hapshiirg becomes Holy Roman Emperor 

1 285-1314 Philip IV, the Fair, king of France 

1 29 1 First Swiss Confederation 

1295 "Model Parliament" of Edward I 

1309-1377 "Babylonian Captivity" of the Papacy 

13 14 Battle of Bannockburn 

1337-1453 Hundred Years' War 

1346 Battle of Crecy 

1356 Battle of Poitiers 

1429 Joan of Arc appears 
1348-1349 Black Death in Europe 
1378-14 1 7 The " Great Schism " 
138 1 Peasants' Revolt in England 
1396 Greek first taught at Florence 
1405 Death of Timur the Lame 
141 5 John Huss burned 

Transition to Modern Times 

1453 Constantinople captured hy the Ottoman Turks 
1455-1485 War of the Roses 
1461-1483 Louis XI, king of France 
1462-1505 Ivan III, the Great, tsar of Russia 
1476 Caxton's printing press set up in England 
1479 Castile and Aragon united under Ferdinand and Isabella 
1485-1509 Henry VII, king of England 
1488 Cape of Good Hope rounded by Diaz 
I4g2 America discovered hy Columbus 
1497 North America rediscovered by John Cabot 
I4g8 Vasco da Gama reaches India 
1 5 13 Discovery of the Pacific by Balboa 
151 7- 1555 Reformation in Germany 
7517 The Ninety-five Theses 

1520 Burning of the papal bull 

152 1 Edict of Worms 
1555 Peace of i\ugsburg 

1519-1521 Mexico conquered by Cortes 



694 Appendix 

1 5 19-15 22 Magellan's circumnavigation of the globe 

151 9- 1556 Reign of Charles V 

1 531-153 7 Peru conquered by Pizarro 

1 533-1 5 58 Reformation in England 

1534 Jesuit order founded by Loyola 

1545-1563 Council of Trent 

1556-1598 Reign of Philip II 

1 558-1603 Elizabeth, queen of England 

1 568-1609 Revolt of the Netherlands 

1 571 Battle of Lepanto 

1572 Massacre of St. Bartholomew 
1579 Union of Utrecht 

J 588 Defeat of the Spanish Armada 

1589-1610 Henry IV, king of France 

i§g8 Edict of Nantes 

1600 English East India Company chartered 

1607 Colonization of Virginia; Jamestown founded 

161 1 Authorized Version of the Bible 

16 1 8-1648 Thirty Years' War 

1648 Peace of Westphalia 



INDEX AND PRONOUNCING 
VOCABULARY 



Note. — The pronunciation of most proper names is indicated either by a simplified 
spelling or by their accentuation and division into syllables. The diacritical marks em- 
ployed are those found in Webster's Neio International Dictionary and are the following : 



a as in ale. 


o as in old. 


oi as in oil. 


a " " senate. 


6 " " obey. 


ch " " chair. 


a " " care. 


6 " " orb. 


g " " go. 


a " " am. 


6 " " odd. 


ng" " sing. 


a " " account. 


o " " soft. 


I] " " iqk. 


a " " arm. 


" " connect. 


fli" " aen. 


a " " ask. 


ti " " use. 


th " " thin. 


a " " sofa. 


ii " " unite. 


tu " " nature. 


e " " eve. 


u " " urn. 


du" " verdure. 


e " " event. 


11 " " up. 


K for ch as in Ger. ich, ach 


e " " end. 


u " " circMS. 


N as in Fr. bon. 


e " " recent. 


ti " " menti. 


y " " yet. 


e " " maker. 


oo as in food. 


zh for z as in azure. 


i " '' Tee. 


oo " " foot. 




i " " ill. 


ou " " out. 





Aachen (ii'K.°"n). See Aix-la-Chapelle. 

Ab-bas'ids. :3S0 and note 2, 381. 

Abelard (Fr. pron. a-ba-liir'), Peter, 567, 

571. 

Abraham, Hebrew patriarch, 367, 374. 
*' Absolute Emperors," the, 220-224. 
Abu Bekr (ii'boo bek"r), 372, 379. 
Abyssinia (ab-i-sin'i-rt), 346, 347. 
Academy, the, at Athens, 261, 275, 288. 
Achaea (d-kc'd), a district of southern Greece, 

109. 
Achilles (d-kil'ez), 78. 
Acre (ii'ker), 475, 476, 479. 
A-crop'o-lis, the Athenian, 108,288,290-292. 
Actium (ak'shi-i/m), naval battle of, 190, 191, 

223. 
Act of Supremacy, the, 660. 
Acts of the Apostles, the, 209. 
A-dri-a-no'ple, 242, 243, 491. 
A-dri-at'ic Sea, 157, 248. 
-^gean (e-je'dn) Age, the, 68-72. 
iEgean Sea, 66, 67, 72, 73, 88. 



^-gos-pot'a-mi, battle of, 111. 

.^neas (e-ne'ds), 142, 277. 

^neiii (e-ne'id), Vergil's, 277. 

^Eschuylus (es'ki-lus), Greek dramatist, 271. 

^sop's Fables, 255. 

Aetius (a-G'shi-ws), 247, 248. 

J^^tna (et'n/c) Mount, 187. 

Af-ghan-i-stan', 125. 

Africa, Portuguese exploration of, 620, 621. 

Africa, North, Phoenician colonists in, 162 ; 
as a Roman province, 217 ; Vandal king- 
dom in, 245, 330 ; conquered by the Arabs, 
378. 

Ag-a-mem'non, 74. 

Ag'o-ra, the Athenian, 261, 290. 

A'gra, 488. 

Agrarian law of Tiberius Gracchus, 175, 176. 

Agriculture, beginnings of, 8, 22 ; in ancient 
Egypt and Babylonia, 44, 45 ; earlv Roman, ■ 
143 ; decline ofRoman, 173, 175, 177 ; Arab 
improvements in, 382 ; medieval, 433, 434. 

Ah'ri-man, 54. 



696 



696 Index and Pronouncing Vocabulary 



Ahuramazda (a-hoo-m-maz'da), 54, 228. 

'•Aids," the feudal, 418. 

Aix-la-ChapeUe (aks-la-sha-pel'), 310, 314, 
402. 

Al-a-man'ni, the, 303, 804, 

Al'a-ric the Visigoth, 243, 244. 

Alaska, 867, 630. 

Al'ba Lon'ga. 140, 142, 143. 

Al-ba'ni-a, 493. 

Albi, 648. 

Albigenses (al-bi-jen'sez), a heretical sect, 
452, 648. 

Albuquerque (al-bd&-ker'ke), 622, 623. 

Alchemy, 574. 

Al-ci-bi'a-des, 110. 

Alculn (al'kwin), 810. 

Aldine press, the, 595, 596. 

Aldus Maiiutius (iiVdus ma-nii'shi-ws), 595. 

Aleutian (a-lu'shan) Islands, 630. 

Alexander the Great, 119-127, 165. 

Alexander III, pope, 461 ; VI, 628. 

Al-ex-an'dri-a, founded by Alexander the 
Great, 123 ; as a commercial center, 128, 
211 ; as a home of learning, 130, 131 ; popu- 
lation of, 208. 

Alexius (a-lek'si-?/s) I, Eoman emperor in 
the East, 469, 470. 

Alfred the Great, king of England, 404, 406, 
407. 

Algebra, 385. 

Al-ham'bra, the, 386. 

A'li, fourth caliph, 379. 

Allah (al'a), 369. 

Al'li-a River, battle of the, 153. 

Alphabet, Egyptian, 10 ; Phoenician 10, 11 ; 
Etruscan, 138, 140; Greek, 139; Eunic, 
240,241,390,391. 

Alps Mountains. 66, 136, 195. 

Alsace (al-sas') 303, 314, 685. 

Altai (al-ti') Mountains, 19. 

Alva, duke of, 672. 

Amazon River, 685. 

Am-en-ho'tep IV, Egyptian king, 54. 

America, the Northmen in, 399 ; discovered 
by Columbus, 627 ; naming of, 628 ; peo- 
pling of, in prehistoric times, 630 ; the In- 
dians, 630-688; Spanish explorations and 
conquests in, 688-635 ; the Spanish colonial 
empire in, 635-68S; EngUsh and French 
explorations in, 638-639. 

A'mon, Egyptian deity, 124. 

Am-phic'ty-ony. the Delphic, 91. 

Amphitheaters, Roman, 216, 286, 287. 

Amsterdam, 640, 671. 

A-mu'li-nus, 142. 

Amusements, Athenian, 264, 265; Eoman, 
265-268 ; in the feudal castle, 428 ; medieval, 
579, 580. See nUo Festivals. 

An^ah'a-sis, Xenophon's, 121, 272. 

Anagni (a-nan'ye), humiliation of Boniface 
VIII at, 644. 

Ancestor worship, Eoman, 145, 253. 

Andes Mountains, 682. 

An'ge-vin dynasty, the, 500. note. 

Angles (aVg'ls). 'See Anglo-Saxons. 

Anghcanism, establishment of, in England, 
661, 663 ; its organization and doctrines, 664, 

An'glo-Sax'uns, the, conquer Britain, 246, 
319, 320; their kingdoms in Britain, 820; 
their culture, 822 ; converted to Roman 
Christianity, 822, 323, 858 ; language of the, 
556. 



Animals, domestication of, 6, 7 and note 2, 
630 ; worship of, in Egypt, 53, 54 ; baiting 
of, 266, 267, 580. 

Anjou (iiN-zhoo'), 500, note 1, 519. 

Anne of Bohemia, 650. 

An-ta'ki-a. See Antioch. 

An-til'les, the Greater, 634. 

Antioch (an'ti-6k), 128, 129, 209, 211, 214, 
230, 471, 540. 

Antonine Caesars, the, 200, 201. 

An-to-ni'nus Pi'us, Roman emperor, 200. 

An-to'ni-us, Mar'cus. See Antony. 

Antony, 187-190. 

Antwerp, 552, 640. 

Ap'en-nine Mountains, 136. 140, 153. 

Aphrodite (af-ro-di'te), attributes of, 76. 

A-pol'lo, 76, attributes of, 76 ; his oracle at 
Delphi, 78, 79. 

Apostles, the, 442. 

A-pox-y-om'e-nus, the, 81, 

Ap'pi-an Way, 157. 

Apprentices in guilds, 586, 537. 

April Fool's Day, 581. 

A-pu'li-a, a district of southern Italy, 166. 

Aqueducts, Roman, 157, 284, 285. 

Aquinas (u-kwi'nas), St. Thomas, 572, 667. 

Aquitaine (ak'wi-tan), 512. 

" Arabesques," 886. 

Arabia, physical features of, 21, 867. 

Arabian Nights, the. See Thousand and 
One Nights. 

Ar'abs, the, as foes of the Roman Empire in 
the East, 383, 876, 377 ; migratory and sed- 
entary, 367, 369; under Mohammed, 871, 
376; their conquests, 375-379; civilization 
of, 381-386, 590, 594. See also Moslems. 

Aragon (a-ra-gon'), 520. 

Ar-be'la, battle of, 124. 

Ar-ca'di-us, Eoman emperor in the East, 243, 

Arch, the round, 61, 62. 139, 281, 282, 563, 
564, 597 ; the pointed, 886, 564, 565. 

Archbishop, church official, 448. 

Arches, Eoman triumphal, 199, 236, 2S6, 295, 

Ar-chi-me'des, 131. 

Architecture, prehistoric, 13 ; Egyptian, Bab- 
ylonian, and Assvrian, 58; Etruscan, 138, 
139; Greek, 278-281 ; Eoman, 282-287; By- 
zantine, 336, 337 ; Arab, 385, 386 ; medieval, 
562-566; Eenaissance, 597, 601. 

Arctic Ocean, 66, 899. 

Ar-e-op'a-gus, hill, 288 ; Council of the, 288, 
290. . 

Ares (a'rez), 226, 

Ar'go-lis, a district of southern Greece, 70. 

Ar'gos, 82, 97, 109. 

Arian heresy, the, nature of. 235, 236 ; ac- 
cepted bv the Germanic invaders, 236, 237, 
241, 300, 302, 304. 305, 826, 358. 

Ar-is-ti'des, 96, 97, 101. 

A-ris'ti-on, gravestone of, 95, 

Aristocrac^^ See Nobility. 

Ar-is-toph'a-nes, Athenian dramatist, 272. 

Aristotle (ar'is-tot'l), Greek philosopher, 
120, 275, 3S8,-571, 572. 578, 591, 592, 609, 626. 

Arithmetic, 60, 885, 566. 

A'ri-us, 285, 236. 

Ark, sanctuary of Jehovah, 31, 

Aries (arl), 216. 

"Armada (ar-ma'da), the Invincible," 678, 
note 1 ; 679. 

Armenia, 21, 22, 121. 200, 377. 

Armor, medieval, 422. 

Army, Macedonian, under Phihp II, 116; 



Index and Pronouncing Vocabulary 697 



Eoman, during the early republic, 158-160 ; 
under the empire, 202, 203 ; the feudal, 422. 

Ar'no River, 154, 544. 

Ar'nus. See Arno. 

Ar-pi'num, 181. 

Art, primitive, 13-15 ; Oriental, 58-60 ; 
yEg-ean, 71 : Greek, 278-2S2, 290-292 ; 
Roman, 282-288, 294-296; Byzantine, 336, 
337 ; Arab, 385, 386 ; Renaissance, 597-599, 
601. See also Architecture, Painting-, 
Sculpture. 

Ar-ta-pher'nes, 95, 96. 

Ar'te-mis, 84. 

Arthur, King, myth of, 560, 561, 624, 625. 

Artisans, Oriental, 44; Athenian, 106; Ro- 
man, under the empire, 212, 213, 224 ; in 
the Middle Ages, 535-537. See also Guilds. 

Ar3'an (iir'yan), 16, note 1. See also Indo- 
European. 

As-Cca'ni-us. 142. 

As'gard, 394. 

Asia, grand divisions of, 19; physical con- 
trasts between Europe and, 60 ; Roman 
province of, 171 ; medieval explorations in, 
616, 618; Europep,n influence on, 623. 

Asia Minor, 21, 67, 322, 468. 

Assembl)', of freemen, in early Greece, 82 ; 
Spartan, 84; Athenian, 86, 87, 104, 105, 117, 
151, 290; Roman assemblies, 149, 151, 176, 
186, 194. 

Assisi (as-se'ze), 451. 

Assuan (as-swiin') dam, the, 24, note 1. 

As-syr'i-a, rise of, 34; under Sargon II and 
Sennacherib, 34, 35 ; downfall of and parti- 
tion of, 36. 

Astrolabe, the, 618. 

Astrology, Babylonian, 53 ; in the Middle 
Ages, 574. 

Astronomy, Egyptian and Babylonian, 60, 
61; Greek, 133; Arab, 385; Medieval, 574; 
during the Renaissance, 607, 60S, 609. 

Ath-a-na' si-US, 236. 

A-the'na, her attributes, 76 ; the Panathenaic 
festival, 264, 291, 292 ; statue of the Guard- 
ian, 290; the Parthenon as the shrine of, 
291, 292. 

Athens, early history of, 85-87 ; aids the Io- 
nian Greeks, 95 ; repulses the Persians at 
Marathon, 95, 96 ; abandoned to Xerxes, 
98 ; rebuilding and fortification of, 100, 2SS ; 
under Themistocles, Aristides, and Cimon, 
100-103 ; under Pericles, 103-108 ; the Pel- 
oponnesian War, 108-111; unites with 
Thebes against Philip, 113; under the 
Roman Empire, 209 ; the ancient city as an 
art center, 288-292. 
Athletics, Greek, 79, 80, 254, 255, 261. See 

also Gvmnastics. 
A'thos, Mount, 95, 97. 
Atlantic Ocean, 133, 624, 625, 628. 
At-lan'tis, myth of, 624. 
A'tri-um of a Roman house, 259, 260, 262. 
At'ti-ca, 85, 98, 100. 
At'ti-la the Hun. 247. 248, 350, 561. 
Augsburg (ouks'b66rK), city, 548; Peace of, 
656, 668, 682. 

Au'gu-ry, Roman, 142, 148. See also Aus- 
pices. 
Au-gus'tine, missionary to the Anglo-Saxons, 
322, 323, 359. 
Au-gus'tus, character and personality, 193, 
194; as emperor, 194, 195; the Augustan 
Age, 195, 196 ; deification of, 196, 197. 



Augustus, the title, 193, 221. 

Au-re'li-an, Roman emperor, 220, 229, note 1, 

241, 294. 
Au-re'li-us, Marcus, Roman emperor, 193, 

200, 201, 226. 

Aus'pi-ces, Roman, 148 and note 1. 
Australians, 4, note 1. 
Austria, rise of, 316, 462, 522 ; growth of, 

under the Hapsburgs, 522 ; Switzerland and, 

523, 524. 

Av'a-lon, 624, 625. 
A'vars, the, 309, 314, 334. 
Av'en-tine Hill, 294. 
Avignon (a-ven-yoN'), residence of the popes 

at, 645. 
Azores («-zorz') Islands, 620, 628. 
Aztec Indians, the, 632, 633. 

Baalbec (biil-bek'), 217. 

Ba'ber, 488. 

Bab'y-lon, capital of Babylonia, 25, 33, 124, 

125. 

Bab-y-lo'ni-a, phj^sical features and produc- 
tions of, 22 ; early inhabitants of, 24 ; under 
Hammurabi, 25 ; under Nebuchadnezzar, 36, 

37. 

" Babylonian Captivity " of the Church, the, 
645. 

Bacchus (bak'/ts), 212. 

Bacon, Roger, 573. 574, 624 ; Sir Francis, 609. 

Bagdad ibag-diid'), capital of the Abbasid 
caUphate, 381, 385; as a commercial center, 
3S3, 540 ; sacked by the Mongols, 485. 

Ba-ha'ma Islands, the, 627 and note 1. 

Balboa (bal-bo'a), Vasco Nunez de, 634. 

Balder, myth of, 395. 

Baldwin, king of Jerusalem, 470. 

Balkan (ba!-k;in') Mountains, 66. 

Balkan peninsula, 66, 115. 195, 334, 335, 493. 

Ball, John, 611, 612, 619, 620. 

Baltic Sea, 66, 389, 390, 548, 549, 684, ^85. 

Banking, in Babvlonia, 47 ; in the Middle 
Ages, 542, 543, 545. 

Ban'nock-burn, battle of, 511. 

Banquets, Greek and Roman, 262-264. 

" Barbarians." defined, 90 and note 2. 

Basel (bii'zel), 600. 

Ba-sil'i-cas, Roman, 283, 284, 295, 344, 562, 
563. 

Bas-reliefs, 34. 35, 38, 61, 256, 287. 

Bath, city, 209. 

Baths, Roman, 213, 263, 285, 286, 295 ; medi- 
eval, 586. 

Bavaria, 315. note 1, 316, 522. 

Bayeux (ba-yu') Tapestry, 408, 586. 

Beards, wearing of, in the Middle Ages, 
586. 

Beck'et, Thomas, 442. 

Bed'ou-ins, the, 367, 369. 

Behaim (ba'him), Martin, 625, 626. 

Belgium, 305, 314, 549, 552, note 1, 671. 

Bel-i-sa'ri-us, Roman general, 330. 

" Benefit of clergy," 444, 445. 

Benjamin, tribe, 33. 

Ber'bers, the, 378. 

Bergen (ber'gen), 548. 

Bering Strait, 19. 

Bertha, queen of Kent, 322. 

Beth'le-hem, 197, 472. 

Bible, Old Testament, 58 ; New Testament, 
230, 600, 601 and note 1. 

Bibhcal translations, 600, 601, 649, 653. 

Bills of exchange, introduction of, 543. 



69! 



Index and Pronouncing Vocabulary 



Bishop, church official, 232 and note 3, 447, 
448. 

Bishop of Rome. See Pope. 

"Black. Death," the, 610, till. 

" Black Prince," the, 517, 519 and note 2. 

Black Sea, 4S, 65, 66, 75 and note 1, 88, 102, 
241, 540. 

Boccaccio (bok-ka'cho), 593. 

Boeotia (be-6'shi-('0, a district of central 
Greece, 98, 100, 273. 

Bohemia, 309, 360, 522. 569, 650, 683. 

Bo'he-mond, 470. 

Bokhara (bo-Kii'rii), 485. 

Boleyn ;,b^l'in), Anne, 659, 675. 

Bolivia, 632. 

Bologna (bo-lon'yii), university of, 567, 568, 
570. 

Bom-bay', 54, note 1. 

Bon'i-face, missionary, 359 ; VIII, pope, 643. 

Bookkeeping by double-entry, 543. 

Book of Common Prayer, the, 661. 

Book of the Dead, Egyptian, 55, 56. 

Bordeaux (bor-dcV), 209, 645. 

Bos'po-rus, the, 223, 322, 338. 

Boston, English city, 538. 

Both'ni-a, gulf of, 389, 400. 

Bourgeoisie (boor-zhwa-ze'), the, 531 and 
note 2, 680. 

Brandenburg (bran'd^n-boorK), 315, 525, 
526, 685. 

Brazil, 622, 623, note 1, 628, note 2, 635. 

Bremen (bra'men), 549. 

"Bridge of Sighs," the, 547. 

Bristol, 638. 

Britain, visited by Pytheas, 131 ; Cfesar's ex- 
peditions to, 183 ; becomes a lioman prov- 
ince, 197 ; overrun by the Jutes, Angles, and 
Saions, 246, 319 ; nature of the Anglo-Saxon 
conquest of, 319, 322. 

Bri-tan'ni-a, lioman province of, 197. See 
also Britain. 

British Isles, the, their geographical situation, 
66 ; Christianity in the, 322-325, 359 ; unifica- 
tion of, under English kings, 507-511. 

Britons, the, 246 and note 1. 

Brit'ta-ny, 246, note 1, 512, 519. 

Bronze, 5, 71, 73, 390. 

Bruce, Kobert, 511. 

Bruges (Fr. pron. bruzh), as a commercial 
center, 540, 548, 550, 551, 552, 640 ; belfry of, 
550. 

Brun-dis'i-um, 157. 

Bru'tus, 187-189. 

Bubonic plague, the, 610 and note 3, 686. 

Buddhism (bood'iz'm), 484. 

Bulgaria, 195, 493. 

Bulgarians, the, 334, 335, 363, 377, 495. 

" Bulls," papal, 453 and note 3. 

Bur-gun'di-ans, the, found a kingdom in Gaul, 
245 ; conquered by the Franks, 245, 803 ; be- 
come Catholic Christians, 358. 

Bur'gun-dy, 245, 513, 519, 654. 

Burma, 618. 

Buttress, the flying, 564. 

" Byzantine Empire," the. 328, 829. 

Byzantium (bi-zan'shi-?hn), 79, 88, 222, 829. 
See also Constantinople. 

Cabot, John, 637. 

Cadiz (ka'dez), 50, 678. 

Cffi'li-an Hill, 294. 

Caesar (se'zor), Gains Julius, 182-187, 277. 

CcBsar, the title, 197, note 2, 221. 



Cairo (ki'ro). 23, 337, 381, 383. 

Calais (Fr. pron. ka-le')i 518 and note 1, 549. 

Calendar, beginnings of the, 12, 13 ; Egyptian 
solar year, 60, 61 ; Caesar's reform of the, 
186 and note 3 ; the Maya, 631. 

Cal'i-cut, 621. 

California, .635 ; Spanish missions in, 636. 

Ca-lig'u-la, Roman emperor, 197. 

Caliph (ka'lif), the title, 379. 

CaFiph-ate, the, 379-381. 

Calvin, John, 656, 657. 

Calvinism, diffusion of, 657 ff. ; its organiza- 
tion and doctrines, 664. 

Cam'ba-luc. See Peking. 

Cambridge, city, 538 ; university of, 569, 570. 

Cam-by'ses, Persian king, 38. 

Camoens (kam'o-ens), 622. 

Camp, the Roman fortified, 159. 

Cam-pa'ni-a, a district of Central Italy, 136, 
138, 139, 153. 

Cam'pus Mar'ti-us, 147, 263, 294. 

Canaan (ka'nan), 29, 30. 

Canada, French explorations in, 638. 

Canary Islands, 627. 

Can'nte, battle of, 166, 167, 

Canon law. See Law. 

Ca-nos'sa, humiliation of Henry IV at, 459, 
461. 

Can'ter-bury, city, 323 ; cathedral of, 324 ; 
pilgrimages to, 442 ; archbishop of, 448, 461, 
504, 659. 

Canterbury Tales, Chaucer's, 557, 593, 604, 
613. 

Canute (k«-niit'), king of England, 407. 

Capet (Fr. pron. ka-pe'), Hugh, king of 
France, 403, 512. 

Capetian (ka-pe' shdn) dynasty, the, 512 and 
note 2. 

Cap'i-to-line Hill, 141, 160, 190, 294, 296. 

Cap'u-a, 157. 

Car-a-cal'la, Edict of, 204 ; baths of, 295. 

Carcassonne (kjir-ka-son'), 530. 

Cardinals, College of, 451, 457, 665. 

Caribbean Sea, 627. 

Car-o-lin'gi-an dynasty, the, 306 and note 2, 
315, 317, 403. 

Car'thage, a Phoenician colony, 50 ; a rival of 
the Greeks in the western Mediterranean, 
89 ; the Carthaginians in Sicily, 154, 168; a 
rival of Rome, 162 ; Carthaginian commer- 
cial empire and civilization, 162, 163 ; First 
Punic War, 163, 164; Second Punic War, 
164-167; destroyed at close of the Third 
Punic War, 168, 169; rebuilt, 169, note 1, 
209 ; becomes capital of the Vandal kingdom, 
245, 248 ; again destroyed by the Arabs, 378. 

Cartier, Jacques (ktir-tya', zhak'), 638. 

Car-y-at'i-des, porch of the, 291. 

Caspian Sea, 65, 125, 134, 241, 309. 

Cassius (kash'MS), 187-189. 

Castile (kas-tel'), kingdom of, 520. 

Castles, feudal, 424-428, 584. 

Castor, temple of, 295. 

Cat'a-combs, the, at Rome, 234. 

Ca-thay'. See China. 

Cathedrals, 310, 324, 448, 562-566. 

Catherine of Aragon, 659. 

Catherine de'Medici (da ma'de-che), 680. 

CathoHc Church, conception of the, 342. See 
also Celtic Church, Greek Church, Roman 
Church. 

Cat'i-line, conspiracy of, 182. 

Caucasian (ko-ka'shrfn) race, the, 15, 16. 



Index and Pronouncing Vocabulary 699 



Caucasus (ko'kci-sus) Mountains, 65. 
. Caxton, William, 595. 

Celebes (sel'e-bez), 623, note 1. 

Celibacy, prevalence of, in Eoman imperial 

times, 214, 225 ; of the clergy, 343, 446. 
Celtiberians, the, 519. 
Celtic Church, the, 323-325. 
Celtic languages, 140, 508, 509, 512. 
Celts (selts), the, an Indo-European people, 

66 ; in Gaul and Britain, 195, 239, 246 ; in 

Wales, Scotland, and Ireland, 508, 509, 511 ; 

in France, 512 ; in Spain, 519. 
Cen'sors, Itoman, 151, 152. 
Central America, 635 ; prehistoric cities of, 

631. 
Ce-phis'sus, stream, 288. 
Cer-a-mi'cus, the Outer, 288. 
Cereals, domestication of the, 8, 22, 641. 
Cervantes (ser-van'tez), 603. 
Ceylon, 618, 623. 

Chseronea (ker-6-ne'a), battle of, 118, 153. 
Chalcidice (kal-sid'i-ce), peninsula of, 110. 
Chaldea (kal-de'a). See Babylonia. 
Chalons (shii-loN'), battle of, 248. 
Channel Islands, 518 and note 1. 
Chariot races, Roman, 266. 
Charity, Eoman, 214, 215; early Christian, 

232, 23T; the Medieval Church and, 463. 

See also Doles. 
Charlemagne (shiir'le-man), 306, note 2, 307- 

312, 359, 415, 559, 560. 
Charles the Bold' 313, 314. 
Charles Martel, 306, 359, 379. 
Charles V, Holy Eoman Emperor, G54-656, 

671, 679. 
Charles VIII, king of France, 519; IX, 680. 
Charters, civic, 531. 
Chateau Gaillard (sha-to' ga-yar'), 424, 

426. 
Chaucer, Geoffrey, 557, 604, 612. 
Checkers, 580. 

Chemistry, Arab, 884; alchemy and, 574. 
Cheops (kO'ops), 27. 
Cherbourg (shur-boOr'), 640. 
Chess, 428, 579, 580. 
Chester, 209, 532, note 1. 
Children, condition of, in classical antiquity, 

84, 145, 253. 
Children's Crusade, the, 478. 
Chile, 632. 

China, beginnings of history in, 3, 19 ; civili- 
zation of, 19, 20, 594, 595 ; Nestorians in, 

347 ; conquered by the Mongols, 485, 487 ; 
visited by the Polos, 488, 616; Portuguese 
trade wth, 488. 622. 

Chivalry. See Knighthood. 

Chosroes (kos'ro-ez), II, .332. 

Christ, 197, 229, 232, 236. 

Christianity, preparation for, 226-229 ; rise 
and spread of, 1229-232 ; organization of the 
early Christian Church, 232 ; persecuted, 
232-234 ; triumph of, in the Eoman empire, 
234-237 ; the Germans converted to Arian, 
236, 237, 241, 300, 302,304. 805, 326, 358; 
intluence of, on ancient society, 237, 270 ; 
spread of Catholic, over Europe. 802, 804, 
305, 808, 316, 322-325, 335, 358-860, 396, 401, 
526 ; Celtic and Roman, in the British Isles, 
322-325; development of, during the first 
three centuries a.d., 342-346; eastern, 846- 

348 ; rise and growth of the Papacy, 848-351 ; 
monasticism, 352-358 ; separation of eastern 
and western, 360-363 ; the Papacy and the 



Holy Eoman Empire, 439-463; the Reforma- 
tion, 643-687. See also Celtic Church, 
Greek Church, Protestants, Romaa 
Church. 

Christmas, 229, note 1, 346, 435, 581, 582. 

Chrysoloras (kris-o-lo'ras), 593. 

Church, Christian, organization of the early, 
232 ; development of the episcopate, 342, 

343 ; separation of clergy and laity, 343, 

344 ; rise of heresies, 344 ; worship and holy 
days, 844-346. See also Christianity. 

Church of England. See AngUcanism. 
Churches : Aix-la-Chapelie, 310 ; St. Martin's, 
Canterbury, 232 ; Canterbury Cathedral, 324; 
baptistery, cathedral and campanile of Pisa, 
544. 

Cibola (se'bo-lJi), the Seven Cities of, 635. 
Cicero (sis'e-ro), Marcus Tullius, 181, 182, 
184, 187, 188, 189, 277. 
Cid (Sp. pron. theth). Poem of the, 520. 
Cim-me'ri-ans, the, 75. 

Cimon (si'mon), Athenian statesman, 102, 
103. 

Ci-pan'go. See Japan. 

Circensian (ser-sen'shdn) games, 266-268. 

Circuit judges, English, 500, 502. 

Cir'cus Max'i-mus, 266, 2S7, 294. 

Cistercian (sis-tiir'shan) order, the. 449. 

Citeaux (se-to'), 449, 450. 

Cities, Hellenistic, 127-180 ; in the Eoman 
imperial age, 208-210; aspects of ancient, 
252, 253 ; decline of, in the early Middle 
Ages, 431 ; the civic revival, 437, 529 ; origin 
of, in the Middle Ages, 529, 530 ; feudalism 
and medieval, 530, 531 ; rise of the "third 
estate," 531 ; city life, 531-584 ; civic trade 
and industry, 534-539 ; commercial rela- 
tions between, 540; Italian, 548-547, 590; 
German, 547-549 ; Flemish, 549-552. 

Citizenship, in the Greek city-state, 81 ; 
in Athens, 85, 87,104; in early Rome, 150, 
151 ; the Italians and Romans, 155, 177, 
179, 207 ; extension of Roman, to the pro- 
vincials, 187, 204, 215 ; privileges of Roman, 
204, 206. 

City-state, the Greek, 81-83, 113, 128; the 
Roman, 149-152, 190, 191. 

Civilization, Oriental, 42-63 ; ^gean, 71, 
72; the Graico-Oriental world, 133-135; 
Etruscan, 138, 139 ; Carthaginian, 163 ; the 
Grfeco-Roman world, 215-218 ; classical, 
252-296 ; Byzantine, 835-337 ; Arabian, 
3S1-3S6 ; medieval, 554-588. 

Civil War, between Marius and Sulla, 179 ; 
between Pompey and C;esar, 184, 1S5 ; be- 
tween Antony and Octavian, 189, 190. 

Clairvaux (klar-v6'), 450. 

Clau'di-an Cae'sars, the, 197. 

Claudius, Roman emperor, 197, 213. 

Clement VII, pope, 645. 

Cleon, 272. 

Cle-o-pa'tra, 185, 189, 190. 

Clergy, secular, 446—448 ; regular, 448-450 ; 
intluence of the, in medieval times, 464. See 
also Friars, Monasticism, Priesthood. 

Cler'mont, Council of, 469, 470. 

Clis'the-nes, Athenian reformer, 87, 

Clothing. See Costume. 

Clo-til'da, 804. 

Clovis, king of the Franks, 303-805. 

Cluny (klii-ne'), monastery of, 448, 449. 

Cochin-China (kcVchin chi'nd), 618. 

Codes, legal. See Law. 



700 Index and Pronouncing Vocabulary- 



coinage, a Lydian invention, 47 ; unknown 
to Homeric Greeks, 74 ; beginning of, at 
Kome, 144 ; Roman imperial, 210, 211 ; de- 
basement of, in the Middle Ages, 541, 542. 
See <tlso Money. 

Coligny (ko-len'ye), Admiral de, 6S0. 

Col'line Gate, battle of the, 179. 

Cologne (ko-lon'), 314, 402, 529, 535, 54S. 

Colonial policy, Portuguese, 623 ; Spanish, 
637. 

Colonies, Phcenician, 50 ; Greek, 87-90, 139 ; 
Latin, in Italy, 155, 156, 166, 177 ; " Ro- 
man, " 155, note 2 ; Portuguese, 622, 623 
and note 1, 670; Spanish, 635; French, 
638 ; English, 638. 

Col-os-se'um, the, 286, 287, 294, 295. 

Columbus, Christopher, 626-628. 

Columns of victory, Roman, 163, 201, 286, 
287. 

Comedy, Athenian, 264, 265, 272. 

Co-me'ni-us, 607. 

Commandments, the Ten, 52. 

Commentaries, Cesar's, 183, 239, 277. 

Commerce, Babylon and Nineveh as centers 
of Asiatic, 47, 4S ; Phoenician, with Europe, 
48, 49 ; Phoenician imports and exports, 49 ; 
^gean, 71, 72 ; absence of, in Homeric Age, 
73; Athenian, 107, lOS; Roman, 210, 211; 
Byzantine, 335, 336; Arabian, 369, 882, 383, 
623 ; influence of the crusades on, 480, 481, 
539 ; medieval, 539, 540 ; Genoese, 544 ; 
Venetian, 546, 547 ; Hanseatic, 548, 549 ; 
Flemish, 549, 550; Portuguese, 622, 623; 
Spanish, 637 ; effect of the maritime discov- 
eries on, 640. 

Com'mo-dus, Roman emperor, 219. 

Common law. See Law. 

Commons, House of, 507. 

Compass, the mariner's. 383, 573, 618, 620. 

Complutensian Polyglott, the, 601, note 1. 

Concordat of Worms, the, 459, 460. 

Concrete, Roman use of, 283. 

Confederations. See Federations. 

Congo River, 621. 

Congregational churches, 664, note 1. 

Conquistadores (kon-kes-tti-thO'rus), the, 
635. 

Conrad I, 315 ; III, 474. 

Constance, Council of, 645, 649, 650. 

Constantine (kon'stdn-tin) the Great, be- 
comes sole Roman emperor, 222 ; founds 
Constantinople, 222, 223 ; attitude of, toward 
Christianity, 235 ; Arch of, 236, 295. 

Constantine' Palieologus, Roman emperor in 
the East 492 493 

Constantinople, founding of, 88, 222, 223; 
attacked by the Russians, 335 ; as the center 
of Bvzantine civilization, 335-337 ; situation 
of, 337, 338 ; described, 339-341 ; besieged 
by the Arabs, 377 ; captured by the cru- 
saders, 477 ; Latin Empire of, 478 ; siege and 
capture of, by the Ottoman Turks, 492, 493, 
593. 

Consuls, Roman, 149. 

Contract tablets, Babvlonian, 50, 51. 

Co-per'ni-cus, 133, 607, 608, 609. 

Copper, 4, 5, note 1, 73, 143, 144, 631. 

Cor-cy'ra, island of, 109. 

Cor'do-va, 337, 380 and note 3, 382-384, 386. 

Corinth, the kingship abolished in, 82 ; emi- 
grants from, found Syracuse, 89 ; congress 
at. 481 B.C., 98; precipitates the Pelopon- 
nesian War, 109 ; panhellenic congress at, 



387 B.C., 119 ; sacked and burned by the 
Romans, 170 ; refounded, 170, note 1, 209. 

Cornelia, mother of the Gracchi, 175, 

Coronado (Span. pron. ko-ro-na'tho), Fran- 
cisco de, 635. 

Coronation Chair, the, 508. 

Cor'pus Ju'ris Ci-vi'lis, 331, 421, 567, 568, 
572. 

Correggio (ki5r-red'j6), 599. 

Corsica, 89, 138, 162, 330. 

Cortes (Span. pron. kor-tas'), Hernando, 634. 

Cosmology, early Greek, 74, 75; medieval, 
608, 614, 615. 

Cosmopolitanism, in the Grjeco-Oriental 
world, 134, 135 ; in the Gra?co-Roman world, 
215, 216. 

Cosmos map, the, 615, 617. 

Costume, Greek and Roman, 257-259 ; cleri- 
cal, 843, 844 ; in the Middle Ages, 585, 586. 

" Council of Blood," the, 672. 

Councils, Church : Nicsea, 235, 236, 843, 344 ; 
Constance, 645, 649, 650 ; Trent, 667, 668. 

Counter Reformation, the Catholic. 665-668. 

Courts, Athenian iury, 105, 106 ; feudal, 419- 
421 ; royal, in the Middle Ages, 500, 502, 514. 

Cow, domesticated, 6. 

Craft guild, the, 535-537, 568. 

Cranmer, Thomas, 659, 661. 

Cras'sus, 183, 184, 194, 213. 

Creation legend, Babylonian, 56. 

Crecy (kra-se), battle of, 516. 

Crete, 1, 5, 10, 28, 70-72, 54£. 

Croesus (kre'sws), Lydian king, 37, 88, 47, 79, 
93. 

Crusades, the, causes of, 466-468 ; First Cru- 
sade, 468-472 ; crusaders' states in Syria, 
472-474 ; Second and Third, 474-476 ; Fourth 
Crusade, 476-478; Children's Crusade, 478; 
end of, 478, 479 ; results of, 479-481. 

Culture. See Civilization. 

CumjE (kii'me), 89, 139, 153. 

Cu-nax'a, battle of, 121, 

Cu-ne'i-form writing, 10 and note 1, 11, 42, 
62. 

Cuzco, 633, 635, 

Cymric (kim'rik), the Welsh language, 508. 

Cyprus (si'prws), 4, 28, 38, 48, 94, 376, 377, 
479, 546, 669. 

Cyrene (si-re'ne), 79, 90, 124, 163. 

Cyril (sir'il), 860. 

Cv'rus the Great, 37, 38, 79, 93, 94; the 
Younger, 120, 121. 

Czar (ziir). See Tsar. 

Dacia (da'shi-a), 200, 219, 241. 

Damascus, 230, 337, 880, 381, 882, 474, 540. 

Dane'geld, the, 407. 

Dane'law, the, 404, 406. 

Danes, converted to Christianity, 396 ; in 
England, 403, 404. 406, 407, 556. 

Dante Alighieri (dan'ta a-le-gyii're), 591, 592, 
602, 605, 624, 644. 

Danube River, 39, 72, 194, 195, 241, 242, 247, 
298, 316, 522. 

Dar-da-nelles'. See Hellespont. 

Da-ri'us I, the Great, 38-40, 94, 95; III, 122, 
124. 

Dates, Greek and Roman methods of deter- 
mining, 79, note 4, 140, note 1. 

Da'tis, 95, 96. 

David, Hebrew king, 31. 

Deacon, church official, 232. 

De-cam'er-on, the, 593. 



Index and Pronouncing Vocabulary 701 



Decimal system, the, origin of, 12. 
Degrees, university, 568. 
Deification, of Oriental rulers, 42 ; of Alexan- 
der the Great, 124 ; of Augustus, 196, 197. 
See also Emperor worship. 

Delhi (del'e), 488. 

De'li-an League, the, formation and consti- 
tution of, 101, 102, 104 ; becomes subject to 
Athens, 102, 113. 

De'los, island of, 102. 

Delphi (del'fi), T8. 

Delphic amphictyony, 91. 

Delphic oracle, described, 78, 79 ; predictions 
of, 79, 109, 274 ; abolished, 236, 237. 

Delta of the Nile, 23, 90. 

Demarcation, papal line of, 028 and note 2. 

De-me'ter, attributes of, 76 ; the Eleusinian 
mysteries in honor of, 227. 

Democracy, rise of, at Athens, 86, 87 ; char- 
acteristics of Athenian, 104-106; of the 
Medieval Church, 463, 464; of medieval 
cities, 531, 534, 590. 

Demons, Babylonian belief in, 52. 

De-mos'the-nes, Athenian orator and states- 
man, 117, 118, 182. 

Denmark, 246, 314, 315, 396, 656, 662. 

Despots, Italian, 543. 

Devil, the, 373, 57.5, 578. 

Dialogues, Plato's, 275; Cicero's, 277. 

Diaz (de'ath), Kodrigo, 520 ; Bartholomew, 
621. 

Dic-ta'tor, the Eoman, 149, 150 ; Quintus 
Fabius Maximus as, 166 ; Sulla as '• Per- 
petual Dictator," 180 ; power of Julius 
Ciesar as, 186. 

Dictutus papoi. the, 4.58 and note 1. 

Dioceses of the Eoman Empire, 221. 

Diocletian (di-o-kle'sh«n), Roman emperor, 
220-222, 233, 234. 

Dionysus (di-6-ni's?'?.s), attributes, of, 76 ; the- 
ater of, 264, 290 ; festivals of, 265. 

Dis-cob'o-lus, the, 80. 

Discus, throwing the, 80. 

"Dispensations," papal, 453, 659. 

Divination, Babylonian, 53 ; Etruscan, 138 ; 
Roman, 147, 148 ; medieval, 575. 

Divine Comedy, the, 591, 592, 602, 624, 644. 

Divorce among the Greeks and Romans, 214. 

Dnieper (nG'per) River, 33.5, 400, 401, 485. 

Dniester (nes'ter) River, 335. 

Dog, domesticated, 6, 631. 

Doge (doj) of Venice, the, 547 and note 2. 

Doles, Roman state, 176, 177, 186, 287. 

Dolmens, 13, 15. 

Dome, the, as an architectural feature, 283, 
336, 597 and note 4. 

Domesday (domz'da) Book, 499. 

Domestication of animals, 6,7; of plants, 8. 

Do-min'i-cans, order of the, 452, 453. 

Do'min^is, the title, 222. 

Domitian (do-mish'i-dn), Roman emperor, 
199 278. 

" Donation of Pepin," the, 306, 307. 

"Do-nothing kings," the, 305, 306. 

Don Quixote (Span, pron.don ke-ho'ta), 603. 

Don River, 65, 241. 

Doric order of architecture, 279, 280. 

Dra'co, laws of, 86. 

Drake, Sir Francis, 689. 

Drama, Athenian, 264, 265; Roman. 265; 
medieval popular, 582, 583 ; the Shakespear- 
ian, 605. 

Dramatists, Athenian, 271, 272. 



Dress. See Costume. 

Drinking customs, Greek and Roman, 262, 

264 ; Anglo-Saxon, 320 ; medieval, 587. 
Dubhn, 397. 

Duel, the judicial, 420, 421. 
Du-il'i-us, column of, 163. 
DweUings, of the Greeks and Romans, 145, 

146, 259, 260 ; the castle, 427 ; the manor 

house, 584, 585. 
Dwi'na River, 399. 
Dying Gaul, statue of the, 129. 

East Anglia, 320. 

Easter, 323, 346, 435. 

East Goths. See Ostrogoths. 

East Mark, 316. See also Austria. 

E'bro River, 165, 309. 

Ec-bat'a-na, 37. 

Economic conditions, in the Orient, 44-47 ; 
in Homeric Greece, 73, 74 ; in Athens, at the 
time of Solon, 86; in Athens, during the 
Age of Pericles, 106-108 ; during the Hellen- 
istic Age, 133, 134; in early Rome, 143, 144; 
under the Early Empire, 2l0-214 ; under the 
Later Empire,' 224, 225 ; during the feudal 
period, 431, 4.33-437 ; during the later Middle 
Ages, .541, 542, 609-613. 

Ecuador, 632. 

E-des'sa, principality of, 472, 474. 

Edicts: Caracalla, 204; Galerius, 234, 235; 
Milan, 235 ; Nantes, 681 ; Restitution, 683. 

Edinburgh, 510. 

Education, Oriental, 62, 63; Spartan, 84; 
Greek, 253-255; Roman, 255, 256; in the 
Early Middle Ages, 309, 310, 406, 464, 566 ; 
Byzantine, .337 ; Arab, 383 ; medieval uni- 
versities, 566-570; scholasticism, 570-572; 
Renaissance, 606, 607 ; Jesuit, 666. 

Edward the Confessor, king of England, 407. 

Edward I, king of England, "Model Parlia- 
ment," of, 507 ; conquest of Wales and 
Scotland by, 507-511 ; II, 508, 511 ; III, 515, 
516, 517; VI, 661. 

Egbert, king of Wessex, 320, 403, 404. 

Egypt, the "gift of the Nile," 23 ; an early 
center of civilization, 24; inhabitants of, 25; 
kingdom of, founded by Menes, 25, 26 ; the 
pyramid kings, 26, 27 ; invaded by the 
Hyksos, 27 ; becomes an imperial power, 
28, 29; conquered by Persia, 29, 38, 94; 
visited by Greeks, 90 ; conquered b}^ Alex- 
ander the Great, 123 ; under the Ptolemies, 
127 ; becomes a Roman dependency, 185, 
190 ; Christian hermits in, 352 ; conquered 
by the Arabs, 376, 378 ; a center of Moslem 
power, 475, 477. 

Ein'hard, 307. 

Elbe River, 246, 308, 315, 402, 525. 

Elder Edda, the, 393. 

El Dorado (el do-rii'do), 635. 

Elections, Athenian, 104 ; Roman, 155. 

El-eu-sin'i-an mysteries, 78, 226, 227, 236, 237, 
288 

E^leu'sis, 227, 288. 

E'lis, 79. 

Elizabeth, queen of England, 664, 674-677, 
680. 

Embalming. See Mummification. 

E-mir'ate of Cordova, the, 380 and note 3. 

Emperor worship, Roman, 196, 197, 216. See 
also Deification. 

Empire, Egvptian, 27, 28; Assyrian, 34-36 ; 
Persian, 37-40; Athenian, 104; Spartan, 



702 



Index and Pronouncing Vocabulary 



111; Macedonian, 118,125,127; Carthag-in- 
ian, 162, 163 ; early Roman, 193-218 ; later 
Koman, 219-226 ; New Persian, 219, 332, 333, 
376; Roman, in the West, 223, 249, 312; 
Roman, in the East, 223, 328-341, 412, 468, 
469. 477, 478. 479, 491-493 ; Charlemagne's, 
311-314; Holy Roman, 311, 312, 317- 
319, 456-463, 522, 643-646; of Otto the 
Great, 317-319 ; Arabian, 375-381 ; Portu- 
guese colonial, 622, 623 and note 1, 670 ; 
Spanish colonial, 635-638. 

Engineering, Oriental, 61, 62; discoveries of 
Archimedes, 131. 

England, the name, 246 ; conquered by the 
Danes, 403, 404, 406, 407 ; Norman Conquest 
of, 407, 408, 410 ; under William the Con- 
queror, 497-490 ; under Henry II, 499, 500, 
502 ; under Richard I, John, and Henry III, 
502, 504-506 ; under Edward I, 507-511 ; the 
Hundred Years' War between France and, 
515-518 ; the War of the Roses, 518, 519 ; the 
Reformation in, 658-664; under Elizabeth, 
674-677. /S'eea^so Britain. 

English, the, racial elements in, 319, 320, 404, 
406, 410. 

E-pam-i-non'das, Theban general and states- 
man, 112, 113. 115. 

Ephesus (efe-sws), 122, 209. 

Eph'ors, the Spartan, 83, 84. 

Epic poetry, Babylonian, 56, 57 ; Greek, 73, 
90, 270, 271 ; Roman, 277 ; Medieval French, 
559, 560 ; the Mbelungeynlied, 560, 561. 

Ep-i-cu-re'an-ism, philosophy of, 275, 276. 

Ep-i-cu'rus, 275. 

E-piph'a-ny, 346. 

E-pi'rus, adistrict of northern Greece, 154, 
190. 

Episcopate, the, 342, 343, 863, 664. 

Epistles, St. Paul's, 170, note 1 ; Cicero's, 
277. 

E-ras'mus, Des-i-de'ri-us, 600, 601, 613, 647, 
652. 

Er-a-tos'the-nes, 132. 133, 624. 

Erechtheum (er-ek-the'wm), the, 291. 

Erfurt (er'fSort), university of, 651. 

Eric the Red, 399. 

Ericsson. Leif (er'Ik-siHi, lif ), 399. 

Eskimos, the, 399. 

Es'qui-line Hill, 294. 

Essex, 320. 

Estates-General, the French, 514, 515, 644. 

Eth'el-bert, king of Kent, 322, 323. 

E-tru'ri-a, a district of central Italy, 136, 138, 
182. 

E-trus'cans, the, 138, 139, 143, 148, 153. 

Euclid (ii'klid), Greek geometrician, 131. 
385 

Euphrates (u-fra'tez) River, 27, 194, 200. 

Eu-rip'i-des, Athenian dramatist, 271. 

Europe, physical features of, 65 ; grand di- 
visions of, 65, 66. 

Euxine (ilk'sin). See Black Sea. 

Evans, Sir Arthur, excavations by, 70, 71. 

Evil e.ve, the, 577. 

Excavations : Babylon, 36 ; Nippur, 64 ; 
Troy, Mycena?, Tiryns, and Gnossus, 68- 
71 ; Pompeii and Herculaneum, 200 ; the 
Roman Forum, 295. 

Excommunication, 445, 446, 461. 

Exile, the Hebrew, 36, 37, 38. 

Exploration, Phcenician, 49 ; Greek, 125, 131, 
132, 134 ; Viking, 397-401 ; of Asia, during 
the later Middle Ages, 616, 618; aids to 



ocean navigation, 618, 619 ; motives for, 
in the Renaissance period, 619, 620 ; of the, 
African coast, by the Portuguese, 620, 621 ; of 
America by the Spaniards, 627, 628, 633-635 ; 
Magellan's circumnavigation of the globe, 
628, 629 ; French and English, in America, 
638-639. 
Exposure. See Infanticide. 

Fa'bi-us Max'i-mus, Quin'tus, dictatorship 
of, 166. 

Fairies in European folklore, 396, 576, 577. 

Fairs in the Middle Ages, 535, 537, 538. 

Falconry, 428, 429. 

" Fall " of Rome, the, 224, 241, 249. 

Family, the, Roman, 144, 145, 214; early 
German, 240. 

Farming. See Agriculture. 

Faroe (fiir'o) Islands, 398. 

Fasces (fiis'Gz), the, 151. 

Fealty, oath of, 418. 

Federations : Peloponnesian League, 83, 102, 
109, 113; Delphic Amphictyony, 91 ; Delian 
League, 101, 102, 104, 113"; Latin League, 
140, 153 ; Lombard League, 460 ; Swiss Con- 
federation, 523-525 ; Hanseatic League, 548, 
549 ; the United Netherlands, 673, 685. 

Fenris, 395. 

Ferdinand, king of Aragon, 520, 521, 522, 542, 
628 ; I, Holy Roman Emperor, 668 ; II, 683, 
685. 

Festivals, Greek athletic, 79-81 ; Athenian 
civic, 264, 265 ; Christian, 345, 346 ; in the 
Middle Ages, 580-582. 

Feudalism, rise of, 415, 416 ; non-European 
parallels to, 416 ; as a system of local gov- 
ernment, 416-419 ; as a sj'stem of local jus- 
tice, 419-421 ; feudal warfare, 421-423 ; 
feudal castles, 424—428; knighthood and 
chivalry, 428-431 ; feudal manors, 431, 433- 
436 ; serfdom. 436, 437 ; decline of, 437, 438 ; 
influence of the Crusades on, 480 ; the na- 
tional states and, 496, 497 ; William the 
Conqueror's policy toward, 498 ; the medi- 
eval cities and, 530, 531. 

Fief, the, 417, 418. 

Finland, geography of, 66 ; the Swedes in, 
400, 684. 

Finns, the, 360, 400, 483. 

Flanders, county of, 516, 549-552, 556, note 1. 

Fla'vi-an Ca-sars, the, 199, 200. 

Flemings, the, 549. 

Florence, in the Middle Ages, 544, 545 ; dur- 
ing the Renaissance, 590, 591, 592, 593, 
597. 

Flood legend, Babylonian, 57. 

Florida, discovery of, 634. 

Folk tales, European, 396, 575, 576. 

Food, of prehistoric man, 6 ; of the Greeks 
and Romans, 260, 262 ; of medieval peoples, 
586, 587. 

Fo'rum. the Roman, 141, 146, 160, 176, 177, 
190, 262, 295, 296. 

France, origin of the name, 303, note 3 ; the 
Normans in, 402, 403 ; Capetian dynasty 
established in, 403, 512 ; physical and racial, 
511, 512 ; territorial growth 'of, 512-514, 519 ; 
Hundred Years' War between England and, 
515-518 ; under Francis I, 679 ; the Hugue- 
not wars in, 679-682 ; under Henry IV, 
681 ; intervention of, in the Thirty Years' 
War, 684, 685. 

Francis I, king of France, 638, 654, 679. 



Index and Pronouncing Vocabulary 703 



Fran-cis'cans, order of the, 452, 453, 488, 616, 
636. 

Fran-co'ni-a, 815 and note 1. 

Franks, the, in northern Gaul, 245, 246, 803 ; 
conquests of ; under Clovis, 308 ; converted 
to Catholic Christianity, 304, 305, 358 ; ex- 
pansion of, under the earlier Merovingians, 
305; under Charles Martel and Pepin the 
short, 305-307 ; under Charlemagne, 307- 
312. 

Frederick I, Barbarossa, Holv Roman Em- 
peror, 460, 461, 475, 522; II^ 462, 478; the 
wise, elector of Saxony, 651, 653. 

Frescoes. See Wall paintings. 

Friars, orders of, 450-453. 

Friday, the Mohammedan Sabbath, 374, an 
unlucky day, 579. 

Frigga, 395, 

Frob'ish-er, 639. 

Froissart (frwii-sar'), 603. 

Frontiers of the Eoman Empire, under 
Augustus, 194, 195. 

Furniture in the Middle Ages, 427, 584, 585. 

Future hfe, ideas of the, Egyptian, 55 ; 
iJab3'lonian and Hebrew, 55, 56 ; early 
Greek and Eoman, 77, 78, 14S ; as set forth 
in the Eleusinian mysteries, 227 ; in Mithra- 
ism and other Oriental religions, 228, 229 ; 
in early Christianity, 229 ; in Islam, 373, 
374, 375 ; conception of Purgatory, 433, 444. 

Ga'bri-el, archangel, 371, 374. 

Ga'des. See Cadiz. 

Gaelic (gul'ik), the Celtic speech of Scotland, 
509, 

Gai'se-ric, Vandal king, 249. 

Ga'len, 131. 

Ga-le'ri-us, Eoman emperor, 235. 

Gal'i-lee, lake of, 475. 

Galileo (gal-i-lC-'o), 60S, 609. 

Gal-lip' o-li, 491. 

Gallo-Eomans, the, 512, 555. 

Gama (gii'ma), Vasco da, 621, 623. 

Games, Olvmpian, 79-81 ; Circensian, 266- 
268 ; medieval, 579, 580. 

Ganges Eiver, 20, 125. 

Garonne (ga-ron') Eiver, 402. 

Gargoyles, 565. 

Gaul (gol), Greeks in, 89; Cisalpine, 136, 
164, 178, 183; Transalpine, 178, 183, 184; 
Visigoths and Burgundians, in, 244, 245 ; 
Franks in, 245, 246, 803 ; Arabs in, 379. 

Gauls, their inroads in Greece and Asia 
Minor, 129 ; invade Italy, 153 ; conquered 
by Eome, 164, 183, 184; Eomanized, 184, 
197, 512. 

Gems, Greek, 127. 

Geneva, Calvin's residence in, 656. 

Ge'ni-us of the Eoman emperor, 233. , 

Genoa, gulf of, 136; city, 302, 545, 640, 669. 

Gens, the Eoman, 254, note 1. 

Gen'tiles, the, 230. 

Geographical conditions, influence of, on 
early civilization of Nearer Asia, 21 ; on the 
Greeks, 67, 68 ; on the Italian peoples, 187 ; 
in European history, 389, 390, 497, 509, 510, 
511, 512, 519, 525. 

Geography, Babylonian knowledge of, 61 ; 
Homeric, 74, 7o; progress of, during the 
Hellenistic Age, 131-133; Arab knowledge 
of, 383 ; medieval, 614-618 ; progress of, in 
the sixteenth century, 615-618, 620, 621, 
625-627. 

Geometry, 60, 131, 385. 



Germans, the, an Indo-European people, 66 ; 
invade Gaul and Italy, 178; Eoman cam- 
paigns against, 183, 195, 201 ; Dacia aban- 
doned to, 219 ; converted to Christianity in 
its Arian form, 286, 237, 241, 300, 302. 326, 
858 ; as described by Caesar and Tacitus, 
239, 240 ; their progress in civilization be- 
fore the invasions, 240 ; reasons for their 
migrations, 240, 241 ; their invasions and 
settlements before 476 a.d., 241-249; in- 
fluence of, on ancient society, 250, 251 ; the 
Ostrogoths and Lombards in Italy, 298-302 ; 
rise of the Franks, 303 : the Anglo-Saxons 
in Britain, 819-822; fusion of, with Eo- 
mans, 325, 326 ; missionary labors of St. 
Boniface among, 359 ; the Slavs and the, 
525, 526. 

Germany, physical features of, 239 ; under 
Saxon kings, 815-817; consequences to, 
of the restoration of the Eoman Empire by 
Otto the Great, 818, 319, 462 ; the North- 
men in, 402 ; eastward expansion of, in the 
Middle Ages, 525, 526 ; pohtical condition 
of, at the close of the Middle Ages, 526, 527 ; 
the Eeformation in, 651-656; the Thirty 
Years' War, 682-686. 

Ghent (gent), 551, 552. 

Giants in European folklore, 396, 577. 

Gi-bral'tar, strait of, 49, 133, 162, 378 and 
note 4. 

Gid'e-on, 30. 

Gladiatorial combats, 214, 237, 267, 268. 

Globular theory, the, 624. 

Gnossus (nos'ws), excavations at, 70, 71. 

Goa. 622. 

Godfrey of Bouillon (boo-yoN'), 470, 472. 

Gods and goddesses. Oriental, 52-54 ; Greek, 
75-77; early Eoman, 147; Mithra, 228; 
Scandinavian, 394, 395. 

Goethe (gii'te), German poet, 605. 

"Golden Gate" of Constantinople, the, 339. 

" Golden Horde," the, 490. 

'"Good Emperors," the, 200, 201. 

Good Hope, cape of, 49, 621. 

Gothic architecture, 568-566. 

Goths, See Ostrogoths, Visigoths. 

Government, Oriental, 42, 43 ; early Greek, 
82, 83; Spartan, 83, 84; Athenian, 87, 104- 
106; Eoman, 149-152; of the Early Empire, 
194; of the Later Empire, 221, 222; feudal, 
416-419 ; rise of national states, 496, 497. 

Gracchi (grak'i), the, 174, 177, 178, 190, 191. 

Gracchus, Gains, 176, 177 ; Tiberius, 175, 
176. 

Grammar, a branch of Greek education, 255. 

Gra-na'da, 882, 386, 520, 521. 

Grand C^nal of Venice, the, 547. 

Gra-ni'cus Eiver, battle of the, 122. 

Gratian, 566. 

Great Britain, 507, 508. See also British 
Isles. 

Great Charter. See Magna Carta. 

Great Council, the, in Norman England, 506. 

" Great Schism," the, 645. 

Greece, physical features of, 66, 67. 

Greek Church, the, missionary activity of, 
in the early Middle Ages, 385, 860, 401 ; 
orthodoxy of, 847, 348 ; schism between, 
and Eome, 360-363 ; organization and 
worship of, 368, 364. 

"Greek Empire," the, 328. 

"Greek fire," 377. 

Greeks, the, influence of geographical con- 



704 Index and Pronouncing Vocabulary 



ditions on, 67, 68; their prehistoric con- 
quests and migrations, 72, 73 ; religion and 
religious institutions of, 75-81 ; the Greek 
city-state, 81-83 ; colonies of, 87-90 ; bonds 
of union between, 90, 91 ; the Persian wars, 
93-100 ; the age of the city-states, 100-113 ; 
became subject to Macedonia, 115—120 ; 
their colonies in Italy, 139 ; became subject 
to Kome, 170, 171 ; secure independence in 
the nineteenth century, 171, note 1 ; par- 
tially Slavonicized, 334 ; conquered by the 
Ottoman Turks. 493. 

Greenland, colonized bv the Northmen, 398, 
399. 

Gregorian Calendar, the, 186, note 2, 363. 

Gregory I, the Great, pope, 322, 350, 351 ; 
VII, 458, 459, 644. 

Grotius (gro'shi-ws), Hugo, 686. 

Guatemala, 631. 

Guilds, Eoman, 212; medieval, 534-537, 
568, 583. 

Guinea (gin'i) gulf of, 621, 626. 

Guiscard (ges-kar'), Kobert, 412, 470 ; Eoger, 
412, 413. 

Gunpowder, discovery of, 573, 574. 

Gustavus Adolphus, 684. 

Gutenberg (goo't^^n-beriv), 595. 

Gvmnastics, Greek and Koman, 254, 255, 
261, 263. See also Athletics. 

Hades (ha'dcz), Greek underworld of the 
dead, 75, 77. 78. 

Ha'dri-an, Roman emperor, 200, 201, 288; 
tomb of, 203, 294; wall of, in Britain, 206, 
211, 246. 

Hagen (hiiVn), 560, 561. 

Hallow Eve. 581, 

Hamburg (Ger. pron. ham'bO()rK), 402, 548, 
549, 640. 

Hammurabi (ham-d&-ra'be), king of Baby- 
lonia, 25, 43 ; his code of laws, 25, 44, 52-52. 

Han'ni-bal, 164-167. 

Hanno, exploring voj^age of. 49, 621. 

Han-se-at'ic League, the, 548, 549. 

Hapsburg (Ger. pron. haps'bcnirK) dynasty, 
the, 462 and note 2, 522, 650, 654, 683. 685. 

harem (hu'rem), the, 387. 

Harold, king of England, 407, 408, 410. 

Har'pa-lus, 134. _ 

Harun-al-Rashid (ha-roon-iir-ra-shed'), 380. 

Harvey, 609. 

Has'dru-bal, brother of Hannibrd, 167. 

Hastings, battle of, 408, 410, 560. 

Hebrews, the settlement of, in Canaan, 29, 30 ; 
ruled by the judges, 30 ; under Saul, David, 
and Solomon, 31, 32; secession of the Ten 
Tribes, 32, 33 ; kingdom of Israel conquered 
by Assyria, 83; kingdom of Judea con- 
quered by Babylonia. 33, 36, 37 ; the Baby- 
lonian captivity, 36, 38. See also Jews, 

Heb'ri-des Islands. 398, 399. 

Hegira (he-ji'ra), the, 371 and note 3. 

Hel, the Norse underworld, 395. 

Hel'las, defined, 90. 

Hel-le'nes, 90. See also Greeks. 

Hel-le-nis'tic Age. the, 130-133. 

Hellenization of the East, 126-128, 134, 135 ; 
of Rome, 174. 

Hel'les-pont, 94, 97, 98, 111, 119, 122, 338. 

He'lots, the, 83. 

Henry II, king of England, 499, 500, 502; 
111.505,506; VII, 518,638; VIII, 658-661. 

Henry II, king of France, 679 ; IV, 681, 



Henry I, king of Germany, 315, 816, 359, 
525; 111,456; IV, 459. 

Henry, Prince, the Navigator, 620, 621, 626. 

He'ra, 76, 226. 

Her-a-cli'us, Roman emperor in the East, 
321, 322. 

Herat (her-af), 485. 

Her-cu-la'ne-um, destruction of, 199. 

Hereford (her'e-ferd) map, the. 615, 617. 

Heresies, rise of, 235, 236, 344, 347, 349; 
punishment of. the middle ages, 647, 648 ; 
the Albigenses, 452, 648; the Waldenses, 
648, 649 ; the Lollards, 649, 650 ; the Hus- 
sites, 65 0, 

Heretics. See Heresies, 

Hermits, early Christian, 352, 3.53. 

Her'od, king of Judea, 197, note 1. 

He-rod'o-tus, Greek traveler and historian, 
98, 272. 

Hesse (hes), 359. 

Hez-e-ki'ah, Hebrew king, 85. 

Hi-er-o-glvph'ics, Egyptian, 10 and note 3, 
11,42, 62. 

Highlands of Scotland, 197, 509, 510. 

Hil'de-brand. See Gregory VI I. 

Himalaya (hi-ma'l«-yrt) Mountains, 19. 

Hin'du-kush Mountains, 175. 

Hip'po-drome of Constantinople, 287, 339. 

Hiram, king of Tyre, 32. 

His-pa'ni-a, 519. 

His-sar'Uk. See Trov. 

Historians, Greek, 272; Roman, 277, 278,- 
Renaissance, 602, 603. 

History, defined, 1 ; sources of, 1, 2 ; be- 
ginnings of, in dilferent parts of the worla, 
2,3. 

Hit'tites, the, 28, 138. 

Hoango (hwang'ho) River, 19. 

Hoder (he'der), 395. 

Hohenstaufen (ho'en-stou-fen) dynasty, the, 
460 and note 1. 461. 

Hohenzollern (h6V"n-ts61-ern) dynasty, the, 
315 and note 2. 

Holidays, Roman, 213, 268; in the Middle 
Ages, 435, 580-582, 

Holland, 805, 314, 662. 

Holstein (hol'shtin), 683. 

Holy Land, the, 467, 469, 473, 476, 479, 480. 

" Holy Roman Empii-e," the title, 312, note 
1, 462, note 1. 

Holy Roman Emperor. See Empire. 

Holy Sepulcher, church of the, 472, note 1. 

Homage, ceremony of, 418. 

Homer, 73. 

Homeric Age, the, 72-75. 

Homeric poems, as sources of Greek my- 
thology and religion, 68, 75-78 ; their origin 
and subject matter, 73, 270, 271 ; as a uni- 
fying influence, 90; studied by Alexander 
the Great, 119 ; subjects of school study, 
255 ; during the Renaissance, 591, 593. 

Honduras, 631. 

Hon-o'ri-us, Roman emperor in the "West, 
243, 244. 

Horace, Roman poet, 256, 269, 278. 

Horse, domesticated, 7. 

Hos'pi-tal-ers, order of the, 473 and note 1, 
479. 

Huguenots (hii'ge-nots), the, 679 and note 3. 

Huguenot wars, the, 679-682, 

Humanism, 593. 594, 600, 601. 602, 606, 607, 

Hundred Years' War. the, 515-519. 

Hungary, 247, 316, 489, 490, 522, 666. 



Index and Pronouncing Vocabulary 705 



Hungarians. See Majryars. 

Huns, enter Europe and subdue the 
Ostrog-oths, 241, 242, 247 ; inroads of, under 
Attila, 247, 24S ; break-up of i)ower, 248. 

Huss (bus), John, 650, 652. 

Hussite wars, the, 650. 

Hyksos (hik'sos), the, 27. 

Hymns, Latin, 558 ; Luther's, 654 and note 1. 

Iberians, the, 519. 

Ib'lis, 373. 

Iceland, as a literary center, 393 ; Christianity 
introduced into, 396 ; colonized by the 
Northmen, 398. 

Iconoclastic controversy, the, 362. 

Ides (Idz) of March. 44 B.C., 87. 

Il'i-ad. See Homeric poems. 

I-lis'sus, stream, 288. 

Il'men, Lake, 400. 

Immortality. See Future life. 

Im-pe-ra'ior, the title, 186 and note 1, 222. 

Incas, the, 633-635. 

In-cu-nab'u-la, 596. 

" Index of Prohibited Books," the, 668. 

India, beginnings of history in, 3 ; settle- 
ment of, by Indo-Europeans, 20 ; relations 
of, to the West, 21 ; Persian conquest of the 
Punjab, 38, 39; Alexander the Great, in, 
125 ; rediscovery of sea route to, 125, 134; 
Nestorians in, 347 and note 1 ; Arab con- 
quests in, 377 ; the Moguls in, 488 ; Portu- 
guese possessions in, 622, 623, 

Indian Ocean, 134, 622, 623. 

Indians, American, 5, note 1, 8, 9, 630-633, 
636. 

Indies, East, 622, 623, 625, 630 ; West, 627, 
634, note 1 . 

Indo-China, 19. 

Indo-European, the, relation of, to the 
Semites, 16; principal divisions of, 16, 17; 
settlement of India by, 20 ; in Europe, 
139, 140. 

Indulgences, Luther's criticisms of, 652. 

Indus Paver, 20, 39, 125, 377. 

Industry, in the Oriental World, 45 ; in the 
Homeric Age, 73 ; in ancient Athens, 106 ; 
in imperial Eome, 212 ; Byzantine, 336 ; 
Arab, 382 ; in medieval cities, 535-537, 
543, 550, 551. 

Infanticide, in the ancient world, 84, 214, 
237, 253, 387. 

Innocent III, pope, 461, 476, 477, 478, 504, 
648. 

Inquisition, the, 668, 671. 

Inscriptions, 1, 12, 105, 140, 163, 196, 347, 
390. 

Institutes of the Christian Religion, Cal- 
vin's, 656, 657. 

Interdict, the, 445, 446, 461. 

Interest. See Usury. 

International law, rise of, 686, 

In-ter-reg'num, the, 462, 

Investiture, conflict over, 457-^GO. 

I-o'ni-a, settled by the Greeks, 67 ; Homeric 
poems probably composed in, 73 ; con- 
quered by Lydia and Persia, 93, 94; the 
Ionian Eevolt, 94, 95 ; freed by Alexander 
the Great, 122. 

Ionic order of architecture, 279, 280. 

Iran (e-ran'), plateau of. 21, 37, 124. 

Ireland, the Scots of, 246 ; Christianitv intro- 
duced into, 323, 325; the Northmen in, 
397 ; conquered by England, 511, 676. 



Ir-ne'ri-us, 567, 

Iron, 5, 73, 390. 

" Iron Crown " of Lombardy, 308, 309, 31V. 

Irrigation in ancient Egypt, 24 and note 1. 

Isaac, Hebrew patriarch, 307. 

Isabella of Castile, 520, 521, 522, 542, 627, 
628, 629. 

Ish'ma-el, 367. 

Ish'tar Gate of Babylon, 36. 

Islam (Is'ldm), principles and practices of, 
372-375 ; expansion of, 375-379 ; influence 
of, 386. 387. 

Isles of the Blest, the, 624. 

Israel, kingdom of, 33, 3t. 

Is'ra-el-ites. See Hebrews. 

Issus, battle of, 122, 123. 

Italians, the influence of geographical condi- 
tions on, 137 : principal divisions of, 140 ; 
how ruled by Rome, 155, 171, 177 ; Koman 
citizenship conferred on, 178, 179. 

Italy, physical features of, 136, 137 ; Etrus- 
can and Greek settlements in, 137-139; 
lioman conquest of central and southern, 
153, 154 ; under Roman rule, 155-158 ; 
northern, conquered by Rome, 164; the 
Ostrogoths in, 298-300; the Lombards in, 
300, 302; Prankish rule over, 306, 307, 
309 ; restoration of the Roman Empire by 
Otto the Great and its consequences to, 
317, 318, 462 ; Norman conquest of south- 
ern, 412, 590, 591 ; in the Renaissance, 
589-594, 597-600. 

Ivan (e-van') III, the Great, tsar, 490, 491. 

Jacquerie (zhak-re'), the, 612 and note 1. 

James I, king of England, 511, note 1, 676, 
and note 1. 

Ja-nic'u-lum Hill, 292. 

Jan-i-za'ries, the, 491 and note 4, 492. 

Ja'nus, Roman deity, 145, 146, and note 1 ; 
temple of, 146. 

Japan, 19, 485, 618, 622, 625, 626. 

Java, 382, 623, note 1. 

Je-ho'vah, 31, 35, 54, 55. 

Jenghiz Khan (jen'giz Kan'), Mongol con- 
queror, 485. 

Jerusalem, becomes capital of the Hebrew 
state, 31; besieged by Sennacherib, 35; 
captured by Nebuchadnezzar, 36 ; cap- 
tured and destroyed by the Romans, 
199 and note 1 ; early Christians in, 229 ; 
during the crusades, 472, 474, 475, 479 ; 
regarded as center of the world, 614, 615. 

Jesuits, the, 666 and note 1, 667. 

Jesus, birth of, 197 and note 1 ; crucifixion 
of, 229 and note 2. 

Jews, the, revolts of, against Rome, 199 and 
note 1 ; rise of Christianitv among, 2-^9, 
230 ; condition of, in the Middle Ages, 542. 

Jihad (jc-hiid'), 375. 

Joan of Arc, 517, 518. 

John, Don, of Austria, 669. 

John, king of England, 461, 502, 504, 505, 
514. 

John, king of France, 516, 517. 

John XII, pope, 317. 

Jordan River, 30, 

Jiitunheim (yo't(5tin-ham), 394. 

Joust, the, 430. 

Judah, 33. 

Ju-de'a, 33, 197 and note 1. 

Judges, period of the, in Hebrew history, 
30. 



7o6 Index and Pronouncing Vocabulary 



Judgment of the dead, Epryptian ideas of 

the, 55, 56. See also Future life. 
Ju-gur'tha, 178. 
Jugurthine War, the, ITS. 
Julian Alps, 243, 24S. 
Julian Cfesars, the, 197. 
Ju'no Mo-ne'ta, temple of, 294. 
Ju'pi-ter, supreme deity of Home, 142, 147, 

160, 190, 294. 
Jury, trial and accusation by, 500, 502. 
Jury courts, Athenian, 105, 106. 
Jus-tin'i-an, Konian emperor in the East, 

800; reign of, 829-332, 861, 373. 
" Just price," medieval idea of the, 537. 
Jutes, the, 246. 

Kaaba (ksi'a-ba), the, 868, 369, 371, 372. 

Kaiser, the title, 197, note 2. 

Kent, 320, 322, 323, 611. 

Kepler, 608, 609. 

Khadija (ka-de'.i«), 370, 371. 

Khartum (kiir-toom'), 22. 

Kiev (kG'yef ), 400, 401, 488. 

Kingship. See Monarchv. 

" King's Road," the, 637 and note 1. 

Knighthood, 42S-4;31. 

Koran (ko-ran'), the, 372, 373. 

Korea, 19, 485, 595. 

Koreish (ko-rish'), 370, 371. 

Kriem'hild, 560, 561. 

Kublai Khan (koD'bli Kan'), 487, 488, 616. 

Lah'a-rum, the, 285. 

Laborers, statutes of, 611. 

Labrador, 399, 638. 

La-co'ni-a, a district in southern Greece, 83. 

Ladrone (la-dro'na) Islands, the, 629, and 
notel. 

Lancaster (laii'kas-ter), house of, 518. 

Lan'ce-lot, Sir, the ideal knight, 429, 430. 

Land, feudal tenure of, 417, 431. 

Lan-go-har'di. See Lombards. 

Language, Greek, 90. 134, 590, 591, 593; 
Latin, 207, 208. 216, 217, 322, 440, 497, 512, 
554, 555, 556, 591, 594; English, 208, 322, 
411, 556-558; Norman-French, 411, 556; 
Cymric, 508 ; Gaelic, 509 ; Spanish, 520 ; 
French, 555 : Icelandic, 556 and note 2 ; 
Italian, 592 ; German, 653. 

Lapland, 490. 

Lapps, the, 483. 

La'res, the, 146, 237. 

Lat'er-an Palace, the, 455, 457. 

Latin League, the, 140, 153. 

Latin War, the, 153. 

Latium (la'shi-wm), adistrict of central Italy, 
136, 140 ; expansion of lioman dominion 
over, 158, 207. 

Law, code of Hammurabi, 25, 44, 50-52 ; 
Mosaic code, 52 ; Draconian code, 86 ; 
Twelve Tables, 150, 151, 206; develop- 
ment of Roman, under the empire, 206, 207, 
215, 216 ; common law of England, 322, 
831, 500, 502; "Laws of the Barbarians," 
326; the Corpiia Juris Civilis, 331, 421, 
567, 568, 572 ; feudal, 419-421 ; canon, 444 
and note 1, 568 ; rise of international, 686. 
"Laws of the Barbarians," the, 326. 
Leagues. See Federations. 
Leb'a-non Mountains, 29. 
Lech (lek) River, battle of the, 316. 
Legates, papal, 454. 
Legion, the Roman, 158, 159. 



Legnano (Ifi-nya'no), battle of, 460. 

Leipzig (lip'sik), city, 539 ; universitj-^ of, 569. 

Lent, 346, 445, 619. 

Leo III, the Isaurian, Roman emperor in 

the East, 377. 

Leo I, the Great, pope, 249, 350 ; III, 311. 
Leon (lu-on'). kingdom of, 520, 521. 
Leon, Ponce de, 634. 
Leonardo da Vinci (la-6-nar'do da ven'che), 

599. 

Le-on'i-das, Spartan king, 98. 
Lepanto (Ifi-pan'td), battle of, 669. 
Lep'i-dus, 188, 189. 
Leuc'tra, battle of, 112. 
Leyden (li'den), 671. 

Libraries, in ancient Orient, 63 ; the Alexan- 
drian Library, 130 ; Arab, 383 ; the Vatican 

Library, 594. 
Lib'y-a, 124. 

Li-cin'i-us. Roman emperor, 222, 235. 
Li^ge (le-azh'), 402. 
Lima (le'mii), 635. 
Lim'er-ick, 897. 
Lincoln, city, 209. 
Lions' Gate, the, 70. 
Lisbon, 621, 623, 626, 640. 
Literature, Oriental, 56-58 ; Greek, 90, 270- 

278 ; Hellenistic, 130 ; Roman, 276-278 ; 

Byzantine, 337 ; Arabic, 385 ; medieval, 

558-561 ; Renaissance, 591-593, 602-605. 

See also Humanism. 
Lith-u-a'ni-ans, converted to Christianity, 

360. 

Litter, Roman, 263. 
Liverpool, 640. 
Liv'v, Roman historian, 278, 
Loire (Iwiir) River, 303, 402, 514. 
Lo'ki, 395. 
Lollards, the, 649, 650. 

Lombard League, the, 460. 

Lombards, the, form a kingdom in Italy, 300, 

302, 332, 351 ; defeated and conquered by 

the Franks, 306, 308, 309 ; become Catholic 

Christians, 858. 
Lombard Street, 548, note 1. 

Lombardv, 302. 

London, 209, 410, 548, 640. 

London Bridge, 510, 548, 677. 

Long bow, the, 516. 

Long Walls of Athens, the, 108, 110, 111, 
288. 

Lords, House of, 507, 

Lorraine (16-ran'), 814 and note 1, 315, note 1, 
816. 

Lothair (lo-thar'), 313, 314. 

Lothringen (lot'ring-en). See Lorraine. 

Louis the German, 313, 314 ; the Pious, 312, 
896. 

Louis VII, king of France, 474; IX, the 
Saint, 514; XI, 519; XIII, 682. 

Louvain (Ioo-vun'), town hall of, 551. 

Louvre (l(5o'vr"), palace of the, 601. 

Low Countries See Netherlands. 

Lovola (lo-vo'la), St. Ignatius, 665-667. 

Liibeck (lu'bek), 548, 549,640. 

Lu-cerne', Lake, 523. 

Lu'si-ads, the, 622. 

Luther, Martin, 650-654. 

Lutheranism, legal recognition of, in Ger- 
many, 655 ; spreads to Scandinavia, 656 ; its 
doctrines and organization, 654-655. 

Lutherans, the, 654-656. 

Lutzen (lut'sen), battle of, 684. 



Index and Pronouncing Vocabulary 707 



Luxury, during the Hellenistic Age, 133, 134 ; 

Roman, 172, 173, 213, 214. 
Ly-ce'um, the, at Athens, 261, 2SS. 
Ly-cur'gus, legendary Spartan law-giver, 85, 

note 2. 

Lyd'i-a, conquered by Persia, 37, 38, 93, 94. 
Lyons (ll'-wnz), 209, 529. 
Lyric poetry, Greek, 271 ; medieval, 558, 

559. 

Ma-ca'o, 622. 

Mac-e-do'ni-a, conquered by Persia, 94; in- 
habitants of, 115; under PhiHp II, 115-119; 
under Alexander the Great, 119, 120 ; after 
Alexander's death, 127 ; conquered by Rome, 
169, 170, 

Machiavelli (nia-lcya-vel'lG), 602. 

Madeira (ina-dG'r«) Islands, the, 620. 

Madonna. See Virgin Mary. 

Magdeburg (m:ig'dfe-b(56rK), 6S4. 

Ma-gel'lan, Fer'di-nand, 629, 630. 

Magic, Babylonian, 52, 53 ; in the Middle 
Ages, 574, 575. 

Magicians, medieval. 575. 

Magistrates, Spartan ephors, 83, 84; Athe- 
nian Ten Generals, 105; Roman, 151, 152, 
155 ; of a medieval city, 534. 

Mag'na Car'ta, winning of, 504, 505 ; provi- 
sions of, 505. 

Mag'na Grae'ci-a, the name, 136 ; conquered 
by Rome, 153, 154, 174. 

Magyars (mod'yors), the, inroads of, 314; 
wars of Henry the Fowler and Otto the 
Great with, 315, 316; their settlement in 
Europe, 316 and note 1 ; converted to Chris- 
tianity, 860. 

Mainz (mints), 595. 

Ma-lac'ca, 622. 

Malory, Sir Thomas, 560, 595. 

Manchuria, 483. 

31a' nes, the, 145. 

Mankind, races of, 15, 16. 

Manor, the medieval, 431, 433-436, 610, 611. 

Manor houses, 584, 585. 

Man-ti-ne'a, battle of, 113. 

Man'tu-a, 606. 

Manufacturing. See Industry. 

Manuscripts, 1, 2, 256, 596, 597. 

Maps, medieval, 614,615, 617; the portolatii, 
619. 

Mar'a-thon, battle of, 95, 96. 

Mar-do'ni-us, 95, 99. 

Marduk (mar'dook), Babylonian deity, 56. 

Mar-e-o'tis, Lake, 128. 

Margraves, 309. 

Mariannes. See Ladrone Islands. 

Ma'ri-us, Gai'us, 178, 179, 181, 182, 191. 

Markets in the Middle Ages, 537. 

" Marks," 309. 

Mar'mo-ra, Sea of, 338. 

Marriage among the Greeks and Romans, 
256, 257. 

Mars, Roman war god, 142, 147. 

Marseilles (mar-salz'). See Massilia. 

Martin V, pope, 645. 

Martyrs, Christian, 234. 

Mary Stuart, queen of Scots, 676. 

Mary Tudor, queen of England, 661. 

Masai (ma-si'), the, 85, note 2. 

Mas-sil'i-a, 89, 181, 209, 529. 

Mathematics, Greek, 131 ; Arab, 384, 385. 

Matilda, Countess, 459. 

Matrimony, sacrament of, 441, 444. 



Max-en'ti-us, 295. 

Max-im'i-an, Roman emperor, 221. 

Maximilian I, Holv Roman Emperor, 654. 

Mayas (ma'vas), the, 631, 632. 

May Day, 4^35, 581, 582. 

" Mayors of the palace," Frankish, 305, 306. 

Mecca, 309, 871, 872, 374. 

Me'di-a, rise of, 86 ; union of, with Persia, 37. 

Medici (med'e-che), the, 594. 

Medicine, Oriental, 62 ; Greek, 131 ; Arab, 384. 

Medina (ma-de'na), 371, 380. 

Mediterranean Sea, 66. 74. 

Memphis (mem'fis), 25, 123. 

Mendicant Orders. See Friars. 

Menes (me'nez), 25, 26. 

Menhvis, 13, 16. 

Merchant guild, the, 534, 535. 

Mer'ci-a, kingdom of, 320. 

Mer-o-vin'gi-an, dvnasty, the, 305 and note 1. 

Mer'sen, Treaty of, 318. 

Mesopotamia (mes-o-p6-ta'mi-a), 22, 124, 
485. 

Merv (merf), 485. 

Mes-sa'na, 89 and note 2. 

Mes-si'ah, 229. 

Mes-si'na, strait of, 89, 137, 154, 413. 

Metals, Age of, 4, 5. 

Me-tho'di-us, 360. 

Meuse (miiz) River, 402. 

Mexico, the Aztec power in, 632 ; conquered 
by the Spaniards, 634. 

Mexico City, 632, 687. 

Michael, archangel, 517. 

Michelangelo (Ital. pron. mc-kel-an'jS-lo), 
598, 599. 

Middle Ages, the, transition to, 298 ; central 
period of, 587, 588 ; later period of, .589. 

Middle class, the, in the ancient Orient, 48, 
44 ; in medieval Europe, 581. 

Midgard serpent, the, 394, 395, 396. 

Midsummer Eve, 581. 

Milan (mil'an), city, 209, 543, 544; edict of, 
235. 

Military-religious orders, 478, .526. 

Millionaires, Roman, in imperial times, 213. 

Mil-ti'a-des, 95, 96, 102. 

Minstrels, Greek, 270 ; Scandinavian, 892 ; 
medieval, 428, 559. 

Miracle plays, 582, 588. 

3fis'si do-min'i-ci, the, 309. 

Missionaries, Jesuit, 666. 

Missions in America, 686. 

Mithra, worship of, in the Roman world, 
227-229. 

Mith-ra-da'tes, king of Pontus, 179, 181, 185. 

Moabite Stone, the, 12. 

Moawiya (mo-Ji-wG'ya), 380. 

Moesia (me'shi-d), province of. 195. 

Mo-guls', rule of the, in India, 488. 

Mo-ham'med, prophet, 370-372. 

Mohammed II, sultan, 492, 493. 

Mohammedanism. See Islam. 

Mohammedans. See Moslems. 

Mo-luc'cas, the. See Spice Islands. 

Monarchy, Oriental, 42, 48 ; in early Greece, 
82 ; in early Rome, 142, 14^, 149 ; Augustus 
as Princeps, 194; absolute, of Diocletian 
and his successors, 221, 222 , rise of abso- 
lute, in Europe, 496-499, 512, 514, 515, 518, 
519, 521, 522. 

Monasticism, rise of, 352, 353 ; the Benedic- 
tine Rule, 354, 355 ; life and work of Bene- 



yoS Index and Pronouncing Vocabulary 



dictine monks, 355-358 ; the Cluniac revival, 
448, 449 ; the Cistercian order, 449 ; the 
friars, 450-453 ; suppression of, in Scandi- 
navia and England, 656, 660 ; the Society of 
Jesus, 666. 

Money, use of cattle as, 6 ; development of 
metallic, 46; Athenian, 107, note 2; Eo- 
man, 143, 144, 210, 211 ; scarcity of, in the 
Middle Ages, 541 ; the Jews as money 
lenders, 542 ; increased supply of, after the 
discovery of America, 641. See also 
Coinage. 

Mongolia, 7, 347, 483 and note 2. 

Mongolian race, the, 15, 247. 

Mongols, the, overthrow the Abbasid cali- 
phate, 381, 485; their life and culture, 483, 
484, 616 ; conquests of, 484, 485, 487-491. 

Monotheism, Persian, 54 ; Hebrew, 54, 55 ; 
Arabian, 369, 371, 373, 387. 

Monsoons, the, 134, 540. 

Montaigne (mon-tan'), 603. 

Mon'te Cas-si'no, 354. 

Mon-te-ne'gro, 363, 493. 

Montfort, Simon de, 506. 

Montpellier (m6N-pe-lya'), university of, 
570 

3fon-u-men'tum An-cy-ra'num, 196. 

Moors, the, 519 and note 1, 520, 521. 

Morality plays, 383, 384. 

Mo-ra'vi-a, 360. 

More, Sir Thomas, 613, 660. 

Mo-re'a, the, 546, note 1. 

Morris dance, the, 582. 

Morte d' Arthur (mort'dar-tiir'), the, 560, 
595. 

Mosaics, 123, 260, 330, 456. 

Moscow (mos'ko), 336, 488, 490, 491. 

Moses, Hebrew law giver, 52, 374. 

Mos'lems, the, defeated by Charles Martel 
at Tours, 306, 314; Charlemagne's wars 
with, 309 ; in southern France, Italy, and 
Sicily, 314, 317, 412 ; meaning of the name, 
371, note 2 ; during the crusades, 466-481. 

Mosques, 374^384, 386, 471. 

Mosul (m6-8ool'), 480. 

" Mourning Athena," the, 109. 

Mu-ez'zin, 374. 

Mummification, Egyptian practice of, 55. 

Mumming and mummers' plays, 582. 

Mus'co-vy, principality of, 490, 491. 

Museum, Alexandrian, 130. 

Music, Greek, 255, 270 ; Renaissance, 599, 
600. 

Myc'a-le, naval battle of, 100, 101. 

Mycense (mi-se'ne), Schliemann's excava- 
tions at, 69, 70. 

Mysteries, Eleusinian, 226, 227; Mithraic, 
228, 229. 

Mythology, Greek, 68, 75-78; Roman, 142, 
143, 147 ; Scandinavian, 394-396. 

Names, Greek and Roman, 253, 254, and 

note 1 ; occupational, in the Middle Ages, 

535. 

Nantes (Fr. pron. naNt), Edict of, 681. 
Naples, bay, 89, 139, ISO, 199,214; city, S9, 

139, note i, 153, 302, 413. 
Nar-cis'sus, 213. 
Nationality, rise of, in Europe, 496, 497, 511, 

518, 520, 525. 
Nau'cra-tis, 90. 
Navarre (nd-var'), kingdom of, 520, 681 and 

note 1. 



Navy, Phoenician, 94, 123 ; Carthaginian, 
163 ; Venetian, 547 ; Spanish and English, 
678 ; French, 682. 

Ne-ap'o-Us. See Naples. 

Ne-ar'chus, voyage of, 125, 134. 

Neb-u-chad-nez'zar, king of Babylonia, 36. 

Negro race, the, 15. 

Nero, Roman emperor, 193, 197, 198, 213, 
292, 348. 

Nerva, Roman emperor, 200. 

Nes-to'ri-ans, the, 347, 616. 

Nestorius, 347. 

Netherlands, the, condition of, in the Middle 
Ages, 549, 671 ; Protestantism in, 671 ; re- 
volt of, 671-674. 

New England, 642. 

Newfoundland, 399. 

New Mexico, 6:35. 

Nihelungenlied (nc'be-loong-en-lijt), the, 
560, 561. 

Nica?a (ni-sG'd), Council of, 235, 236, 468. 

Nicene Creed, the, 236, 349. 

Nie'men River, 526. 

Ni'ini-Novgorod (nyez'nye nov'go-rot), 539. 

Nile River, 22-24. 

Nimes (nem), 209 ; La Maison Carree at, 
215, 217 ; Pont du Gard near, 217, 2n5. 

Nineveh (nin'e-ve), capital of Assyria, 35, 
36, 124. 

Nippur (nip-poor'), excavations at, 63, 64. 

Nobihty, Oriental, 43 ; early Greek, 82 ; 
Athenian, 85, 86 ; early Roman, 150, 151 ; 
feudal, 416-419. 

Nor'i-cum, 195, note 1. 

Normandy, 402, 403, 411, 512, 514. 

Normans, the, settle in France, 402, 403; 
conquer England, 407, 408, 410 ; results of 
the Norman conquest, 410-^12 ; conquer 
southern Italy and Sicily, 412, 413 ; in- 
fluence of, on European history, 413, 414, 
590, 591 ; as crusaders, 468, 470. 

North Cape, 399. 

North Carolina, 639. 

Northmen, inroads of the, 314, 397, 398; 
their home, 389, 390; in prehistoric times, 
390, 391 ; the Viking Age, 391-393 ; in the 
West, 397-399; in the East, 399^01; in 
Germany and France, 402, 403 ; in England, 
403, 404, 406, 407. 

Nor-thum'bri-a, kingdom of, 320, 324. 

Northwest passage, search for the, 639. 

Norway, 314, 390, 396, 397, 656. 

Norwegians, converted to Christianity, 360, 
396. 

Nova Scotia, 899, 638. 

Novgorod (nov'go-rot), 400, 490, 548. 

Nu'ma Pom-pil'i-us, 143, 146. 

Numerals, the " Arabic," 385 ; the Roman, 
566. 

Nu-mid'i-a, 178. 

Nu'mi-tor, 142. 

Nuncios (nun'shi-oz), papal, 454. 

Nu'rem-berg, 532, note 1, 548, 625. 

" Oath-helpers," 420. 
Oath-swearing, 419, 420. 
Ob'er-Am'mer-gan, Passion Play at, 383, 
note 1. 

Oc-ta'vi-an, 188-190. See also Augustus. 
O'der River, 526. 
Odes, Horace's, 278. 
O-de'um. the, 290. 
O'din, 359, 394, 395. 



Index and Pronouncing Vocabulary 709 



O-do-a'cer, king' of the Germans in Italy, 
249 ; conquered by Theodoric, 298, 299. 

Odysseus (o-dis'us), 73, 74. 

OdyHsey (od'i-si). See Homeric poems. 

Ogres, 677. 

O'lafttie Saint, 396. 

0-lym'pi-a, in Elis, 79, 80. 

Olympiad, 79, note 4. 

Olympian council, the, 75. 

Olympian games, described, 79-81; abolished, 
236, 237. 

Olympieum (o-lim-pi-e'um), the, 217, 290. 

0-lym'pus, Mount, 75. 

Omar, second caliph, 379; mosque of, 471. 

Omar Khayyam (o'mar Ki-yam'), 3S5. 

Omens. See Divination. 

Ommiads (o-mi'adz), dynasty of the, 380 and 
note 1. 

Ophir (o'fer), 49 and note 3. 

Oracle of Apollo at Delphi, 78. 79. 

Oratory, Greek, 117, 273 ; Koman, 277. 

Ordeals. 420. 

Orders of Greek architecture, 279, 280, 597. 

0-res'tes, 249. 

0-ri-no'co Pdver, 627, 635. 

Orleans (or-la-aN'), city, 512, 513 ; university 
of, 570. 

Ork'nev Islands, 398. 

Or'muz, 622. 

O-ron'tes River, 128. 

Ostracism, 87 and note 1, 97, 103. 

Os'tro-goths, the, subdued by the Huns, 241, 
242 ; cross the Danube, 243 ; invade Italv, 
298; under Theodoric, 299, 800; conquered 
by Justinian, 300, 330 ; become Catholic 
Christians, 358. 

Othman, third caliph, 379 ; Ottoman chief- 
tain, 491 and note 2. 

Otto I, the Great, 316-318, 359, 456, 522. 

Ot'to-man Turks, the, rise and spread of, 
491 ; the Janizaries, 491, 492 ; siege and 
capture of Constantinople by, 492, 493; in 
southeastern Europe, 493, 495 ; their con- 
trol of Asiatic trade routes, 540, 545, 622; 
defeated at the battle of Lepanto, 669. 

Oxford, university of, 567, 569, 570. 

Oxus River, 377. 

Pacific Ocean, the, discovery of, 629. 

Pad'u-a, university of, 570. 

Pa'dus. See Po. 

Pajs'tum, 89. 

Paganism, decline of, 195, 196, 226, 236, 237. 

Painting, prehistoric, 13 ; Oriental, 60 ; 

^gean, 71, 72, 74; Roman, 287, 288; 

Byzantine, 330 ; Italian, in the Middle 

Ages, 330, 598 ; Renaissance, 593, 599, 601, 

and note 2. 
Palaces : Sargon II, near Nineveh, 59 ; 

Minos, at Gnossus, 70, 71 ; of the Ca?sars, 

294, 295; the Louvre, 601. 
Pal'a-tine Hill, 140-143, 294, 295. 
Pa-ler'mo, 413. 
Pa-les'tra, 254. 

Palestrina (pii-las-tre'na), 599, 600. 
Pal'li-um, the, 448, 454. 
Pal-my'ra. 211. 
Panarha, 634. 

Pan-ath-e-na'ic festival, the, 264, 292. 
Pan-no'ni-a, 195, note 1. 
Pan'the-on, the, 202, 283, 294, 597. 
Pantomimes, Roman, 265. 
Papacy. See Roman Church. 



Paper, use of, 1, 382, 594. 

Papyrus, use of, as writing material, 1, 2, 

255, 256, 594. 

Paradise, 22, note 3, 615. 617. * 
Parallel Lives, Plutarch's, 273. 
Parchment, use of, as writing material, 1, 

256, 594. 

Paris, in Roman imperial times, 247 ; sacked 

^by the Northmen, 402 ; becomes capital 

"of France, 514; university of, 567, 569, 
570. 

Parishes, church, 446, 447. 

Parliament, English, in the thirteenth cen- 
tury, 505-507. 

Par-nas'sus, Mount, 78. 

Parsees, the, 54, note 1. 

Par'the-non, the, 291, 292. 

Parthia, 184, 194, 200, 201, 219. 

Patriarchate, development of the, 343, 361, 
362. 

Patricians (pd-trish'ans), the earlv Roman, 
150, 151. 

Paul III, pope, 665, 666. 

Pavia (pa-ve'ii), capital of Lombardy, 302, 
309 ; university of, 626. 

Pax Eomana, the, 203, 204. 

" Peace of God," the, 423. 

Peasants, Oriental, 44 ; condition of, in early 
Attica, 86 ; early Roman, 143, 144 ; dis- 
appearance of Roman, 173; in the Middle 
Ages, 433-436, 611-613. 

Peasants' RebelUon, the, 611. 

Peking (pe-king'), 488, 616. 

Pe-lop'i-das, 111, 112. 

Pel-o-pon-ne'si-an League, 83, 102, 109, 113. 

Peloponnesus, the, 83, 243, 546 and note 1. 

Pe'lops, 83, note 1. 

Pe-na'tes, the, 146, 237. 

Pen'te-cost. See Whitsunday. 

Pepin (pep'in) the Short, king of the Franks, 
306, 307, 359, 379. 

Per'ga-mum, 129, 209. 

Per'i-cles, 103, 104, 110, 112, 290, 291. 

Per'i-style of a Roman house, 260, 261. 

Perrault (pe-ro'), Charles, 576, note 1. 

Persecution, of the earlv Christians, 232- 
234; of heretics, 344, 647-650 

Per-sep'o-lis, 124. 

Persia, rise of, under Cyrus the Great, 37, 
38 ; under Cambyses, 38 ; under Darius the 
Great, 38, 39 ; organization of the Persian, 
Empire, 39, 40 ; advance of, to the Medi- 
terranean, 93-95 ; the Persian wars, 95-100 ; 
expedition of Cyrus the Younger, and 
retreat of the Ten Thousand, 120-122 ; con- 
quered by Alexander the Great, 122-124 ; 
rise of the New Persian Empire. 219 ; con- 
flict between, and the Roman Empire in 
the East, 332, 333 ; conquered by the 
Arabs, 376 ; overrun by the Mongols, 485. 

Peru, the Inca power in, 682, 633; con- 
quered by the Spaniards, 634, 635. 

Peter the Hermit, 470, 472. 

'* Peter's Pence '^ 4o4. 

Petrarch (pe'trSrk), 592, 593, 596, 600, 602. 

Petrine supremacy, doctrine of the, 349, 350. 

Petrograd (.pe'tro-grad), 336. 

Phsestus (fes'tws), disk of, 1. 

Phalanx, the Macedonian, 116, 154. 

Pharaoh (fa'ro), 26. 

Pha'ros, lighthouse on the island of, 128, 
note 2. 

Phar-sa'lus, battle of, 185. 



yio Index and Pronouncing Vocabulary 



Phid'i-as, Athenian sculptor, 290, 291. 

Philit (.fi'lG), island of, 28. 

Philanthropy under the Early Empire, 214, 
215. 

Philip II, king of Macedonia, 113, 115-119. 

Philip II, Augustus, •king of France, 461, 
475, 476, 502, 513, 514 ; IV, the Fair, 514, 
515, 644; VI, 515,516. 

Philip II. king of Spain, 668-670, 672, 673, 
677-679. 

Phi-lip'pi, founded by Philip II, 116 and 
note 1 ; battles of, 189. 

Philippine Islands, the, 630, 635, note 2, 666. 

Philistines (fi-lis'tins), 30. 31. 

Philosophy, Greek, 273-276 ; scholastic, 570- 
572, 606, 609. 

Pho'cis, a district of central Greece, 78. 

Phoenicia (fe-nish'i-d), the country and peo- 
ple, 29 ; commerce of, with Europe, 48, 
49 ; Phcenlcian imports and exports, 49 ; 
Phoenician exploring voyages and settle- 
ments, 49, 50 ; conquered by Persia, 94. 

Picts, the, 246. 

Piers Pknoman, 612, 613. 

Pilgrimages, Mohammedan, to Mecca, 374; 

.Christian, 441, 466, 467, 652. 

Pindar, Greek poet, 271. 

Piracy, in antiquity, 74, 184, 210 ; in the 
Middle Ages, 539, 549. 

Pi-rie'us, 100, 101, 107, 108, 111, 288. 

Pisa (pe'sii), 544. 

Pi-sis'tra-tus, tyrant of Athens, 86, 87. 

Pizarro (Span. pron. pe-tha'ro), Francisco, 
634. 

Plagues, 110, 610, 611, 686. 

Plan-tag'e-net dynasty, the, 500 and note 1. 

Plants, domestication of, 8 and note 1, 22. 

Pla-tae'a, battle of, 100. 

Pla'to, Athenian philosopher, 275, 624. 

Playing cards, 580. 

Plebeians (ple-be'yans), the early Eoman, 
150, 151. 

Plutarch (ploS'tark), Greek biographer, 273. 

Pnyx (niks), hill, 105, 290. 

Po, river, 136, 138, 164, 243, 302, 543. 

Poetry, Greek epic, 73, 270, 271 ; Greek 
lyric, 271 ; Greek dramatic, 271, 272 ; 
Koman, 277, 278 ; Arabic, 385 ; medieval, 
558-561 ; Renaissance, 591, 592, 602, 605. 

Poitiers (pwa-tyu'), battle of, 516, 517. 

Poland, 360, 489, 490, 666. 

Polo, game, 580. 

Polos, the, in the Far East, 487, 488, 616, 
618, 626. 

Pora'e-ra'ni-a, 526. 

Pompeii (p6m-pa've), destruction of, 199 ; 
excavations at, 200, 210. 258, 269, 261. 

Pom-pe'ius, Gna?'us. See Pompev. 

Pompey (pom'pi), 180, 181, 1S3-1S5. 

PonHi-fex Max'i-mus, the title, 148, note 2, 
364. 

Pontiffs, Roman, 148. 

Pon'ti-us Pi-la'tus, 229, note 2. 

Pontus, 179. 

Pope, the, as " Supreme Pontiff," 148, note 
2 ; as the successor of St. Peter, 350 ; 
origin of the name, 453 and note 1 ; as the 
head of western Christendom, 453-455. 

Por-io-la'ni, the, 619. 

Portugal, rise of, 520 ; becomes a colonial 
power, 622, 623 and note 1 ; union of, with 
Spain, 669, 670. 

Poseidon (po-si'don), 76. 



Potato introduced into Europe, 641. 

Potosi (po-to-se'), silver mines of, 640. 

Pozzolana (pot-so-la'nii), 2513. 

Prff'tors, Roman, 151. 

Prague (Ger. pron. priig), university of, 

569, 650. * 

Praise of Folly, the, 647. 
Prehistoric times, defined, 3 ; divisions of, 

3-5; steps toward civilization in, 6-15; in 

Greece and the ^gean, 68-72. 
Pres'by-ter, church official, 232 and note 2, 

664. 

Presbyterian Churches, 664, note 1. 
Prester John, legend of, 616. 
Priesthood. Oriental, 43; Roman, 148; 

Christian, 232. 342-344, 363, 446-448. 
Primogeniture, 417 and note 1. 
Prince, the, by Macchiavelli, 602. 
Prin'ceps, the title, 194 and note 1. 
Printing, invention of, 594, 595 ; incunabula, 

596 ; importance of, 596, 597, 607, 637, 653. 
Pro-py-lae'a of the Acropolis, 290. 
Protestants, origin of the name, 655 ; sects 

of, 662-664. 

Provencal (pro-viiN-sal') speech, 555, 558. 
Provence (pro-viiNs'). 470, 519, 555. 
Provinces, Roman, 172, note 1, 202. See 

also Provincial system. 

Provincial system, Roman, 171, 172; re- 
formed by Julius Ca'sarand Augustus, 187, 

195 ; remodeling of, by Diocletian, 221. 
Prussia. See Brandenburg. 
Prussians, converted to Christianity, 360, 

526. 

Ptolemaic system, the, 133, 608. 
Ptolemies (tol'e-miz), kingdom of the, 127, 

190. 
Ptolemy, one of Alexander's generals, 127; 

Greek scientist, 133, 383, 60S, 624 and note 

4, 626. 

Pub'li-cans, Roman, 172 and note 2. 
Public lands, Roman, 175. 
Pu'nic War, First, 163, 164; Second, 164- 

167 ; Third, 168. 169. 
Punjab (pun-iab'). the, 20, 39, 125. 
Pur'ga-to-rv, belief in, 443, 444, 652. 
Puritans, the. 642. 
Pyramids, the, 27, 29. 
Pyr'e-nees Mountains, 65, 165, 183, 245, 303, 

309. 
Pyrrhus (pir'«s), 154. 
Pyth'e-as, exploring voyage of, 131. 
Pyth'i-a, the, 78. 

Quaestors (kwes'tors), Roman, 151. 
Quir'i-nal Hill, 141, 14J3. 

Races of man, 15-17. 

" Race suicide," in the Roman world, 225. 

R»'ti-a, 195, note 1. 

Raleigh (ro'li). Sir Walter, 639, 679. 

Ram-a-dan' , 374. 

Rameses (ram'e-sez) II, king of Egypt, 28. 

Raphael (rafa-el), 599. 

Ra-ven'na, 209, 244, 298, 299, 300, 302, 306, 

336. 

Raymond of Toulouse, Count, 470. 
Rebus making, 9. 
Red Sea, 21, 32, 211. 
Reformation, the, preparation for, 643-650 ; 

in Germanv, 651-655 ; in Scandinavia, 656 ; 

in Switzerland, 656-657; in the British 

Isles, 658-661 ; the Protestant sects, 602- 



Index and Pronouncing Vocabulary 7 1 1 



664; the Catholic Counter, 665-668; in 
the Netherlands, 671-6T4 ; in France, 679- 
681. 
Ke'gi-um, 89 and note 1. 
Reims (remz), 304, 517. 
Relics in the Middle Ages, 443, 647. 
"Relief," the feudal, 418. 

Religion, Oriental, 52-56 ; early Greek, 75- 
78, 91 ; Greek religious institutions, 78-81 ; 
early Roman, 145-148 ; reforming activities 
of Augustus, 195-196 ; worship of the Ca;- 
sars, 196, 197, 216 ; decline of classical pagan- 
ism, 226 ; Eleusinian mysteries, 226, 227 ; 
Oriental religions in the Roman Empire, 227- 
229 ; Christianity in the Roman Empire, 
229-237 ; the Christian Church in the East 
and in the West, during the early Middle 
Ages, 342-365 ; Arabian heathenism, 369 ; 
Islam, 372-375, 386-388 ; Scandinavian hea- 
thenism, 894-396 ; the Papacy and the Holy 
Roman Empire, 4:39-464; the Reformation, 
643-687. See also Future life, Monotheism. 

Re'nius, 142. 

Renaissance (re-na's«ns), the meaning of the 
term, 5S9 ; period included within, 589 ; 
origin of, in Italy, 589-591 ; as a revival 
of learning, 591-594, 600-601 ; as an artistic 
revival, 597-600, 601; in literature, 602-605 ; 
in education, 606, 607 ; in science, 607-609 ; 
economic aspects of, 609-613; the geo- 
graphical, 614 ; interest of the popes in, 646. 

Representation, principle of, not found in 
the classical city-state, 106, 155 ; in England, 
506. 507 ; in France, 514, 515. 

Restitution, Edict of, 683. 685. 

Revenues of the medieval Church, 454. 

Reynard (ra'ndrd) the Fox, 561. 

Rhe'a Sil'vi-a, 142. 

Rhine River, 183, 195, 245, 303, 308, 402, 685. 

Rhodes (rodz), city, 129, 130, 209, 256; 
island, 479, 546. 

Rhone River, 89, 245, 313. 

Rhyme, use of, as a poetic device, 558, 559. 

Ri-al'to Bridge of Venice, 547. 

Richard I. king of England, 475, 476, 502 ; II, 
611, 612, 650. 

Richelieu (rG-she-lyu'), Cardinal, 682-6S5. 

Ricimer (ris'i-mer), 249. 

Roads, Persian, 40; Roman, under the re- 
public, 157, 158 ; under the Empire, 203. 

Robin Hood, ballads of, 561. 

Ro'lanU, Song of, 309, note 1, 559, 560. 

Rollo, 402, 403, 

Romance (ro-mans') languages, 208, 332, 555, 
592. 

Romances, the Arthurian, 560. 

Roman Church, the, missionarv activity of, 
in the early Middle Ages, 302, 304. 316, 322- 
325, 358-860, 396 ; relations of, with Clovis, 
Pepin the Short, Charlemagne, and Otto the 
Great, 305, 306, 307, 311, 317, 319 ; rise and 
growth of the Papacy, 348-352 ; schism be- 
tween, and the Greek Church, 360-363 ; 
compared with the Greek Church, 868 ; as 
heir of the Roman Empire, 364, 365 ; charac- 
teristics of, in the Middle Ages, 439, 440 ; 
doctrines and worship of, 440-444 ; juris- 
diction of, 444-446 ; the secular clergy, 
446-448 ; the regular clergy, 448-453 ; 
power of the medieval Papacy, 453-455 ; 
contest between the Papacy and the Em- 
pire, 455-463 ; significance of, in the Middle 
Ages, 463, 464 ; decline of, in the fourteenth 



and fifteenth centuries, 643-645 ; heresies 
and heretics, 647-650,"; the Protestant Ref- 
ormation, 651-664 ; the Counter Reforma- 
tion, 665-668 ; the religious wars, 668-686. 

Romanesque architecture, 562, 563. 

Romanization, of Italy, 158 ; of Sicily and 
Spain, 169 ; of Gaul, 184, 512 ; the Germans 
not Romanized, 195; ofDacia, 200; of East 
and West, 217, 218; of the Visigoths, 245; 
of the Ostrogoths, 299, 300 ; of the Lom- 
bards, 302 ; of the Franks, 303. 

Romans, the, their legends, 142, 143 ; their 
early society, 143, 144 ; the Roman family, 
144, 145 ; the family and state religion, 145- 
148 ; the Roman city-state, 149-152 ; nature 
of Roman rule over Italy, 155; their colo- 
nies and roads in Italy, 155-158 ; their army, 
158-160; provincial system under the re- 
public, 171, 172; effectsof foreign conquests 
on, 172-174; at the end of the repubhcan 
period, 190, 191 ; during the Augustan Age, 
195, 196; extension of Roman citizenship, 
204 ; economic and social conditions in the 
first and second centuries. 210-215 ; the 
Graeco-Roraan world, 215-218 ; economic 
and social conditions in the third and fourth 
centuries, 224-226 ; Christian influence on 
society, 237 ; Germanic influence on society, 
250, 251 ; fusion of, with the Germans, 325, 
326. 

Rome, founding of, 140-142 ; myths of early, 
142, 143; becomes a republic, 143; contest 
between plebeians and patricians, 150, 151 ; 
burned by the Gauls, 158 ; becomes supreme 
in Italy, 153, 154 ; First Punic War, 162- 
164 ; annexation by, of Sicfly, Sardinia, Cor- 
sica, and Cisalpine Gaul, 164 ; Second Punic 
War, 164-167; Third Punic War, 168, 169; 
anne.xation of Spain, Macedonia, Greece, and 
Western Asia Minor, 169-171 ; reforms of 
the Gracchi, 174-178 ; Jugurthine and Ger- 
manic wars, 178 ; Social War, 178, 179 ; 
Mithridatic wars, 179, 181. 185 ; struggle 
between Marius and Sulla, 179, 180 ; annex- 
ation of Syria, 181 ; annexation of Transal- 
pine Gaul," 183, 184 ; struggle between Csesar 
and Pompey, 184, 185 ; Egypt annexed, 185, 
190 ; Civil War between Antony and Octa- 
vian, 190 ; reign of Augustus, 198-197 ; under 
the Juhan and Claudian Csesars, 197, 198 ; 
burning of, 198, 292; under the Flavian 
Caesars, 199, 200; under the "Good Em- 
perors," 200, 201 ; under the "Soldier Em- 
perors," 219, 220 ; fortification of, 220 ; under 
the "Absolute Emperors," 220-224; no 
longer the capital after the foundation of 
Constantinople, 228 ; captured by the Visi- 
goths, 244 ; sacked by the Vandals, 249 ; the 
ancient city as an art center, 292-296 ; as the 
capital of the Papacy, 454, 455. 

Rom'u-lus, first king of Rome, 142 ; An- 
gus' tu-lus, last Roman emperor in the West, 
249. 

Roses, War of the, 518. 

Ro-set'ta Stone, the, 42. 

Ros'tra, the Roman, 296. 

Rothenburg (ro'tf^n-boorK), 532, note 1. 

Rotterdam, 600, 671. 

Rouen (roo-uN'), 403, note 2. 

Royal Road, Persian, 40. 

Rubaiyat (roS-l>i-yat), the, of Omar Khay- 
yam, 385 and note 2. 

Ru'bi-con River, 154, 179, 185. 



712 Index and Pronouncing Vocabulary 



Ku'dolf of Hapsburg, 462, 522, 523. 

Eum (room), sultanate of, 468. 

Kumania, 20U, 363. 493. 

Kunes, the, 240, 390, 391. 

liun'ni-mede, 505. 

Kuric, 400. 

Eussia, geography of, 65, 66 ; Swedish set- 
tlements in, 400 feonquered by the Mongols, 
483-490 ; rise of Muscovy, 490, 491. 

Eussians, attack Constantinople, 335, 401 ; 
converted to Christianity, 335, 360, 363, 401. 

Sabbath, Hebrew, 52, 345. 

Sa'bines, the, 140, 141, 143. 

Sacraments, the, 440-442, 664. 

Sacred Way, Eoman, 190, 295; Athenian, 
288. 

Sacrifice, Eoman, 147. 

Sagas, the, 392 and note 1, 393. 

St. Anthony (an'to-ni), 352. 

St. Bartholomew's Dav, massacre of, 680. 

St. Basil (baz'il), 853, 854. 

St. Benedict, 354, 355. 

St. Ber'nard, 449, 450, 474, 558, 565. 

St. Brandan, 625. 

St. Cyp'ri-an, 342. 

St. Dom'i-nic, 452. 

St. Francis, 451 452. 

St. Ives, city, 538. 

St. Jerome, '600. 

St. Mark, Cathedral of, at Venice, 461, 547. 

St. Martin, church of, at Canterbury, 323. 

St. Patrick, 323. 

St. Paul, 170, note 1, 206 and note 1, 230, 231, 
348. 

St. Peter, 230, 307, 324, 348, 350 ; church of, 
at Eome, 811, 455, 543, 597, 598, 651. 

St. Eemi (re-mG'), 304. 

Saints, reverence for, 443, 648. 

Sal'a-din, 474, 475, 476. 

Salamanca, university of, 570, 637. 

Sal'a-mis, naval battle of, 99. 

Salem, witchcraft delusion at, 579. 

Sa-ler'no, city, 413 ; university of, 570. 

" Sal'ic law," the, 515 and note 1. 

Sahsburv (s61z'ber-i). Oath of, 499; Cathe- 
dral of," 562. 

Sa-ma'ri-a, 33, 34, 230. 

Samarkand (sam-ar-kanf), 485, 487. 

Sam'nites, the, Italian highlanders, 140 ; con- 
quered by the Romans, 153 ; revolt of, in 
the Social War, 179. 

Samson, 30. 

Samuel, 30. 

Sanc'ta So-phi'a, church of, 331 and note 2, 
339, 340, 862. 401, 493. 

" Sanctuary," right of, 445. 

San Diego, 636. 

San Francisco, 636. 

San'skrit. 16, note 1. 

Santa Barbara, mission of, 637. 

Santa Fe (san'ta fa'). 635. 

Sar'a-cens, 371, note 2. See also Moslems. 

Sardinia, 89, 138. 162, 164, 330. 

Sardis, capital of Lydia, 38, 98, 122. 

Sargon II, Assyrian king, 34. 

Satan, 373. 

Satrapies, Persian, 39, 40. 

Saturdav, 345. 

Saturn. 53, 295. 

Saul (sol). Hebrew king, 21 ; of Tarsus, 230. 

Saxons. See Anglo-Saxons. 

Saxony, 308, 315, 359, 651. 



Scandinavia, geography of, 66, 389 ; Eeforma- 
tion in, 656. 

Scarab, the Egyptian, 53. 

Scheldt (skelt) River, 402. 

Schleswig (shlStz'viK), 315. 

Schleswig-Holstein (hol'shtin), 246. 

Schliemann (shle'miin), Heinrich, excava- 
tions bv, 68-70. 

Scholasticism, medieval, 570-572, 606, 609. 

Schools. See Education. 

Schwvz (shvets), canton of, 523. 

Science, primitive, 11-13 ; Oriental, 60-62 ; 
Greek, 131 ; Arab, 383, 384 ; Medieval, 572- 
574 ; Eenaissance, 607-609. 

Scip'i-o, Pub'li-us, 167; ^-mil-i-a'nus, 168, 
169. 

Scotland, partiallv conquered bv the Romans, 
197; the Picts'of, 246; ( hristianity intro- 
duced into, 323, 325 ; the Northmen"in. 398 ; 
formation of the Scottish kingdom, 509, 510 ; 
conquered by Edward I, 510, 511 ; becomes 
independent of England, 511 ; the Reforma- 
tion in, 657, 662. 

Scots, the, 246, 509 ; Mary, Queen of, 676. 

Scribes, Oriental, 63. 

Sculpture, prehistoric, 13 ; Egyptian, 58, 59 ; 
Babylonian and Assvrian, 59; ^gean, 71, 
73 ; "Greek, 281, 282 ;" Roman, 287 ; Renais- 
sance, 597, 598, 601. See also Statues. 

Scvthians (sith'i-dns), 39. 

" Sea dogs," the English, 639. 

Sea-power, Persian, 94, 123 ; importance of, 
Roman, in the Second Punic War, 165 ; in 
the crusades, 497 ; Turkish, 491, 669 ; Vene- 
tian, 547 ; English, 679. 

Sects, the Protestant, 662-664. 

Seine (san) River, 247, 402. 

Se-leu'cus, one of Alexander's generals, 127. 

Seljuk (sel-jook') Turks, 333, 380, 467, 468, 
491. 

Sem'ites, the, relation of, to Indo-European s, 
16 ; principal divisions of, 17 ; original home 
of, 367. 

Sempach (zem'paK), battle of. 524. 

Senate, Roman, in the regal age, 149 ; during 
the early centuries of the republic, 152, 154, 
167 ; during the last century of the republic, 
175, 177, 179, ISO, 184, 186, 188, 190, 194 ; 
under tne empire, 196, 198, 221. 

Senate-house, the Roman, 187, 296. 

Sen'e-ca, 213, 216. 

Sennacherib (se-nak'er-ib). Assyrian king, 35. 

Serbia, 195, 834,-885, 360, 808. 493. 

Serfdom, of the Spartan helots, 83 ; in the 
Middle Ages, 436, 4:37 ; attitude of the medi- 
eval Church toward, 463 ; absence of, in 
medieval cities, 531 ; decline and abolition 
of, 610-612. 

Ser-ve'tus, Michael, 657. 

" Servian Wall," the, 141, 294. 

Seven Hills of Rome, 142, 292, 294. 

" Seven liberal arts," the, 570. 

" Seven Wonders " of the ancient world, 128, 
note 2. 

Se-ville', cathedral of, 543. 

Shakespeare. William, 604, 605. 

She'ol, Hebrew underworld of the dead, 55. 

Shet'land Islands, 898. 

Ships : Ph(Bnician war galley. 32 ; Athenian 
trireme, 99 ; Roman freighter, 211 ; Viking, 
392 ; a ship of 1492 a.d., 627. 

Siam (sT-am'), 618. 

Siberia, 19, 483. 



Index and Pronouncing Vocabulary 713 



Sicily, colonized by the Greeks, 89 ; Athe- 
nian invasion of, 110, 272 ; geographical situ- 
ation of, 13T ; invaded by Pyrrhus, 154 ; 
Carthaginians in, 154, 162, 163 ; conquered 
by Kome, 164 ; Eomanization of, 169 ; a 
province of the Eoman Empire in the East, 
302; the Moslems in, 317, 413, 590; Nor- 
man conquest of, 412, 413, 591. 

Si'don, 28. 

Siege engines, Macedonian, 116. 

Sieges : Nineveh, 36 ; Jerusalem, 36, 199 and 
note 1, 472 ; Rebatana, 37 ; Sardis, 38 ; Troy, 
73 ; Syracuse, 110 ; Athens, 111 ; Tvre, 123 ; 
Carthage, 168, 169 ; Corinth, 170 ; Eome, 
244, 249; Eavenna, 298; Constantinople, 
339, note 1, 377, 477, 492. 493 ; Antioch, 471 ; 
Acre, 476 ; Zara, 477 ; Orleans, 517. 

Sieg'fried, 560, 561. _ 

Sierra Leone (si-er'd le-o'ne), 49, 621. 

Si-le'si-a, 489. 

Sim'o-n}% 457 and note 2. 

Sinai (si'ni), peninsula of, 4, 32. 

Sistine Chapel, the, 598 and note 1. 
,, Skalds, the, 292. 

A Slavery, Oriental, 44; Greek, 74, 106, 107, 

'^' 268: Roman, 207, 212, 215, 224, 237, 268- 

270; Christianity and, 237, 270; Islam and, 

387 ; decline of, in Medieval Europe, 436, 

437 ; attitude of the Church toward, 463. 

Slavs (slavs), the, an Indo-European people, 
66 ; wars of Charlemagne and Kenry the 
Fowler with, 300, 314, 315 ; how divided, 
316, note 1 ; settle in southeastern Europe, 
334, 335 ; converted to Christianitv, 335, 
359, 360, 401 ; the Germans and the, 525, 
526. 

Smyrna (smur'nd), 309. 

Social classes. See Society. 

Social War. the, 178, 179, 207. 

Society of Jesus. See Jesuits. 

Societv, Oriental, 42-44, 63 ; in the Homeric 
Age,'74; in the Hellenistic Age, 133, 134; 
early Eoman, 143-145; effects of foreign 
conquests on Roman, 172-174, 190, 191 ; 
under the early Empire, 212-215; influence 
of Christianity upon, 237 ; Germanic influ- 
ence upon, 250, 251. 

Soc'ra-tes, Athenian philosopher, 273, 274. 

Soissons (swii-soN'), battle of, 303. 

"Soldier Emperors," the, 219, 220. 

Solomon, Hebrew king. 32, 49. 

So'lon, legislation of, 86. 

Som'er-set-shire, 404. 

Soph'ists, the, 273. 

Soph'o-cles, Athenian dramatist, 271, 272. 

Soto, Hernando de, 635. 

Spain, Phoenicians in, 49 ; Carthaginians in, 
89, 163, 164 ; conquered by Eome, 167, 169 ; 
Eomanization of, 169 ; Pompey in, ISO ; 
Caesar in, 185 ; overrun by the Visigoths 
and Vandals, 244, 245 ; the Arabs in, 878, 
379 ; phj'sical and racial, 519 ; Christian 
states of, 519, 520; recovery of, from the 
Moors, 520, 521 ; under Ferdinand and 
Isabella, 521, 522 ; under Philip II, 668-670, 
677, 678. 

Sparta, early history of, 83 ; Spartan govern- 
ment and societv, 8:3-85 ; her part in the 
Persian wars, 95, 97, 98, 100; rivalry of, 
with Athens, 102, 103 ; the Peloponnesian 
War, 108-111; supremacy of. 111, 112; 
holds aloof during the struggle against 
Philip, 118. 



Sphinx (sfirjks), the Great, 20. 

Spice Islands, 623, note 1, 629, 6.33. 

Spices, use of, in the Middle Ages, 587, 619, 
620. 

Spi'na, the, 266. 

Spirits, evil. See Demons. 

Stained glass, medieval, 345, 559, 565. 

States of the Church, 306, 307 and note 1, 
317, 454, 646. 

Statues, prehistoric, 16 ; Egyptian, 27, 30, 
58, 63 ; Assyrian, 60 ; ^Egean, 73 ; Discob- 
olus, 80 ; Apaxyomenus, 81 ; Demos- 
thenes, 117 ; Dying Gaul, 129 ; Augustus, 
193 ; The Good Shepherd, 232 ; Sophocles, 
271; Alfred the Great, 404. See also 
Sculpture. 

Stem-duchies, German, 315 and note 1, 316, 
817. 

Stephen II, pope, 306. 

Stil'i-cho, Vandal general, 243. 

Sto'i-cism, philosophy of, 226, 230, 276. 

Stone Age, the, 3, 4. 

Stourbridge Fair, 588. 539. 

Strassburg (shtras'bc^rk), 303, 304, 402, 548. 

Stratford-on-Avon, 604, 605. 

Suicide, in the ancient worl?l, 214, 237. 

Sul'la, Lu'ci-us Cor-ne'h-us, 178-180, 191. 

Sully (Fr. pron. sii-le'), 681. 

Sumatra (soo-ma'tr«), 383, 623, note 1. 

Su-me'ri-ans, the, 24. 

Summa Theologioe., the, of Aquinas, 572. 

Sun, the, worshiped in Oriental antiquity, 
52 ; Mithra identified with, 228. 

Sunday, 235 and note 1, 345. 

Superstitions of the Middle Ages, 575-579. 

Surgery, Arab, 384. 

Su'sa, Persian capital, 40, 50, note 2, 125. 

Sussex, 820. 

Swa'bi-a, 815, note 1, 523. 

Sweden, 389, 890, 896, 397, 656, 662, 684. 

Swedes, converted to Christianity, 300, 39G ; 
in Finland and Eussia, 400. 

Swiss Confederation, the, 528-525. 

Switzerland, rise of, 314, 523 ; struggle of, 
with Austria, 523, 524 and note 1 ; the 
Swiss Confederation, 523-525 ; the Eeforma- 
tion in, 656, 657. 

Syr-a-cuse', 89, 110, 208. 

Syria, conquered by Egypt, 28 ; Alexander 
the Great in, 123 ; annexed by Eome, 181 ; 
kingdom of, 127, 171 ; crusaders' states in, 
472, 473, 475, 479. 

Tacitus (tas'i-t«s), Eoman historian, 289, 278. 
Tam-er-lane'. See Timur the Lame. 
Tancred (taij'kred), 470, 472. 
Ta-ren'tum, city, 89 and note 3, 154 ; gulf, 

189 
Tarik (ta'rik), 378. 
Tar'quin the Proud, 143. 
Tar'shish, 50. 
Tarsus, 230. 
Tartars. See Tatars. 
Ta'tars, the, 490 and note 1. 
Taxation, Eoman, 172. 225 ; royal, in the 

Middle Ages, 497, 499, 505, 506, 507, 514, 515. 
Tell, William, legend of, 524. 
Templars, order of, the, 473. 
Temple, the, at Jerusalem, 32, 36, 38, 199 

and note 1, 340. 
Temples, Egyptian, 57, 58. Babylonian, .^8 ; 

Greek and Eoman, 89, 101, 202, 215, 278- 

281, 283, 295, 296. 



714 Index and Pronouncing Vocabulary 



Ten Generals, the Athenian, 105. 

Teuochtitlan (ton-och-tet-lan'), 632. 

"Ten Thousand," e.xpeditiou of the, 120- 
122, 2T2. 

Ten Tribes of Israel, 32, 33, 34, 35, 616. 

Tex-tu'do, the, 168. 

Tetzel, 651. 

Teutonic Knigrhts, the. 526. 

Teutonic languages, 242, 555, 556. 

Teutons, the, 60. 389. See alxo Germans. 

Thames (temz) Kiver, 404, 505. 

Theaters, Greek, 264, 265 ; Koman, 287. 

Thebes (thebz), in Egypt, 27, 28. 

Thebes, in Greece, the kingship abolished 
in, 82; neutral during the Persian wars, 
97 ; becomes independent of Sparta, 111 ; 
supremacy of, 112, 113 ; unites with Athens 
against Philip, 118 ; destroyed by Alexander 
the Great, 120, 271. 

The-mis'to-cles, 96-101, 288. 

The-o-do'ra, 329. 

The-od'o-ric, king of the Ostrogoths, 298- 
300, 303. 

Theodosius (the-6-do'shi-?<s) the Great. Eo- 
man emperor, 219, 236, 237, 243, 342, 344. 

TJier'mce. See Baths. Koman. 

Ther-mop'y-lfe, 98, 243. 

Theses, Luther's ninety-five, 652. 

"The-se'um," the, 101, 290. 

Thes'sa-ly, a district of northern Greece, 100, 
116, 117, 185. 

"Third estate," rise of the, 531. 

Thirty Years' War, the, 682-686. 

Thor, 394, 395. 

Thousand and one Ni(jhtf<. the, 381, 385. 

Thrace (thras), 94, 110, 120. 242. 

Thucvdides (thfi-sid'i-dez), Athenian his- 
torian, 108, 110, 272. 

Thu'nor. See Thor. 

Ti'ber River, 137, 140, 141. 292. 294. 

Ti-be'ri-us, Roman emperor, 197, 229, note 
2 278 295 

Tibet (ti-beV), 19, 484, 618. 

Ti'gris River, 22. 

Timur (t!-moor'), the Lame, conquests of, 
485, 487. 

Tirvns (ti'rins), Schliemann's excavations 
at," 70. 

Titian (tish'an), 599. 

Tit-i-ca'ca, Lake, 633. 

Ti'tus, Roman emperor, 199, 294 ; Arch of, 
199, 295. 

Tobacco introduced into Europe, 641. 

Toga, the Roman, 158, 258. 

To-le'do (Sp. pron. to-lfi'tho). 382. 

Toleration, religious, 235, 344. 439, 642, 647, 
656, 664, 668. 

Tolls in the Middle Ages, 539. 

Tombs : Cyrus the Great. 37 ; Darius the 
Great and" other Persian kings, 39 : Hadrian, 
203, 294; Theodoric the Ostrogoth, 299; 
Timur the Lame. 487. 

Toulouse (tuo-l(5oz') , 470. 

Tournament, the, 430. 

Tours (toor), battle of, 306, 379. 

Tower of London, the, 425, note 1, 497, 498. 

Towns. See Cities. 

Trade routes, in Asia, 47, 48 ; in Europe, 48, 
49 ; rediscovery by Nearchus of the sea 
route to India, 125, 134 ; in Roman im- 
perial times, 211; medieval, 540, 620, 622; 
discovery of new, 622, 040. 

Trading, Oriental, 46; in the Homeric Age, 



73; at Rome, under the empire. 211, 212; 

in medieval cities, 534, 535, 5:37-539. 
Tragedv, Athenian, 264, 265, '.^71, 272. 
Tra'jan, Roman emperor, 2oo, 219, 295; 

column of, 201. 295. 
Transubstantiation, 442 and note 1. 
Tra-pe'zus, 121 and note 1. 
Treaties: Verdun, 312, 313; Mersen, 313; 

"Westphalia, 685, 686. 
Treb'i-zond. See Trapezus. 
Trent, Council of, 667, 668. 
Tribunes, Roman, instituted, 150 ; the 

Gracchi as, 175-177; tribunician authority 

of Augustus, 194. 
Trip'o-li, principality of, 472. 
Tri'remes, 99. 

Triumph, the Roman, 160, 190. 
Triumvirate, First, 183, 184; Second, 188, 

189. _ 

Troubadours (troo'ba-doors), the, 558, 559. 
Trov, 68, 69. 142. 
"Truce of God," the, 423. 
True Cross, the, 308, 321, 322, 475. 
Tsar (ts-ir), the title, 197, note 2, 491, note 1. 
Tudor dvnastv, the, 518. 
Tur-ke-stan',"l9, 125, 483, 485. 
Turks. See Ottoman Turks, Seljuk Turks. 
Twelve Tables, the, 150, 151, 206, 255. 
"Twilight of the Gods," in Norse mythology, 

395. 

Two Sicilies, kingdom of the, 413. 
Type, movable, 5y4. .595 ; kinds of, TM. 
Tyrannies, Greek, 82 ; at Athens, 86, 87. 
Tvre (tir), a Phoenician citv, 29; captured 

by Alexander the Great, 123, 163. 
"Tvrian purjile," 49, note 2. 
Tyrrhenian (ti-rG'ni-«n) Sea, the, 138, 140. 

Ul'fi-las, 241, 242. 

Ulm (ooim), 548. 

Ulp'i-an basilica, the, 284. 

Um'bri-ans, the, 140. 

Union of Utrecht, 673. 

United Netherlands, the, formation of, 673 ; 

independence of, 685. 
Universities, the Alexandrian Museum, 150 ; 

Arab, 383 ; medieval, 566-572 ; in Sjjanish 

America, 637. 
Unlucky days, observance of, in the Middle 

Ages, 579. 
Unterwalden (oon-ter-val'df^n), canton of, 

523, 524. 

U'ral Mountains, the, 65, 490. 
Ur'ban II, pope, 469. 477 ; YI, 645. 
Uri (oo'rt), canton of, 523, 524. 
" Usury," medieval prejudice against, 542. 
U-to'pi-a. the, bv More, 613. 
Utrecht (u'trektj, city, 671 ; union of, 673. 

Ya'lens, Roman emperor, 242. 

Yal-hal'la, 395 and note 1, 396. 

Yal-kvr'ies, the, 895 and note 2. 

Yandals, settle in Spain and Africa, 245 ; 
capture and sack Rome, 248, 249. 350 ; con- 
quered bv Belisarius, 330 ; become Catholic 
Christians, 358. 

Yase paintings, 77, 96, 254, 262. 

Vases, Greek. 77. 

Vassalage, 417, 418. 

Vat'i-can, Hill, 292; Palace, 455, 598, 599; 
Librarv, 594. 

Vaulting. 283, 563, 564. 

Venice, origin of, 248, 545 ; participation of, 



Index and Pronouncing Vocabulary 715 



in the Fourth Crusade, 477, 546 ; as a com- 
mercial metropolis, 546-546 ; possessions of, 
546, 547 ; described, 547 ; decline of, as a 
commercial metropolis, 622 ; and the Otto- 
man Turks, 669. 

Verdo (,vurd), Cape, 620. 

Verdun (ver-duN'), Treaty of. 312-314. 

Vergil, Roman poet, 256, 277, 278, 591, 605. 

Verona (vu-rf/na), 209. 

Verres, impeachment of, 1S2. 

Ve-sa'li-us, 608, 609. 

Ves-pa'si-an, Eoman emperor, 199, 294, 
295. 

Vespasianus, Flavius. 8ee Vespasian. 

Vespucci (vcs-p(3ot'che), Amerigo, 628. 

Vesta, 146, 212, 296. 

Vestal Virgins, the, 142, 146. 

Ve-su'vi-us, volcano of, 199. 

Vienna, 522, 529. 

Vi'king, the name, 390 and note 2. See also 
Northmen. 

Viking Age, the, 391-393. 

Villas, Roman, 214, 287. 

Virginia, the Raleigh colonies in, 639. 

Vis'i-goths, the, seize Dacia, 241 ; accept 
Christianity, 241, 242 ; cross the Danube 
and win battle of Adrianople, 242, 24;3 ; in 
Greece and Italy, 243 ; capture Rome, 244 ; 
settlements of, in Gaul and Spain, 244, 245; 
Romanized, 245; their kingdom in Gaul an- 
nexed by the Franks, 303 ; become Catholic 
Christians, 358 ; their kingdom in Spain 
conquered by the Arabs, 378. 

Vis'tu-la River, 359, 525, 526. 

Vittorino da Feltre (vet-to-re'no dii fel'tra), 
606. 

Vlad'i-mir, 401. 

Vulgate, the, 600. 

Wal-den'ses, the, 648, 649. 

Waldo, Peter, 648. 

"Wales, annexed to England, 508. 

Wall, of China, 20; Athenian Long Walls, 

108, 111 ; Servian, 141 ; of Hadrian in Britain, 

206. 217, 246; of Rome, 220, 294. 
Wallace, William, 510. 
Wallen stein (val'en-shtin), 683. 
Walloons, the, 549. 
Wall paintings, 43, 72, 74, 213, 255, 287, 288, 

598 599 
Warfare,* feudal, 421-423, 480; attitude of 

Church toward, 423, 429, 463, 468. See also 

Army. 
Wartburg (vart'bdTSrK), Luther at the, 653. 
Weekdays, origin of their names, 53 and note 

3. 

Welsh, the name, 319, 508. 
Werewolves, 577. 



Weser (va'zer) River, 246. 

Wessex, kingdom of, 320, 403, 404. 

West Goths. See Visigoths. 

West'min-ster Abbey, 4l0, 595. 

West-pha'li-a, Peace of, 685, 686. 

Whitby, Synod of, 324, 325. 

White Sea, 399. 

Whit'sun-day, 346. 

William the Conqueror, 407, 408, 410, 497- 
499. 

William, Prince of Orange, 673, 674. 

Win'ches-ter, 406, 538. 

Windsor (win'zer) Castle, 501. 

Winkelried (virj'kel-rGt), Arnold von, 524, 
525. 

Witchcraft, European, 577-579. 

"Witches' Sabbath," the, 578. 

Witenagemot (wit'^-na-gc-mot), 407 and 
note 1, 410, 506. 

Wittenberg (Ger. pron. vit'en-berK), uni- 
versity of, 651, 653. 

Wo'den. See Odin. 

Wolsey, Cardinal, 658. 

Women, position of, in classical antiquity, 
144, 145, 257 ; under Islam, 387. 

Wool trade, Flemish, 550. 

Workingmen. See Artisans. 

Worms (vorms), Concordat of, 459, 460; 
Diet of, 653 ; Edict of, 655. 

Worship, development of Christian, 344, 345. 

Writing, by pictures, 8, 9 ; by symbols for 
sounds, 9 • Chinese, Japanese, Babylonian, 
and Cretan, 9. 10, 71 ; Egyptian hiero- 
glyphics, 10 ; Phoenicians, 10, 11 ; teaching 
of, in the Orient, 62, 63 ; Etruscan, 138, 140 ; 
the runes, 240, 244, 390, 391. 

WycUffe (wik'Hf), John, 649. 

Xavier (zav'i-er), St. Francis, 667. 
Xenophon (zen'o-fon), Athenian historian, 
121, 272. 
Xerxes (ziirk'zez), Persian king, 97-99. 

Yangtse (yang'tse) River, 19. 
York, city, 209, 529 ; house of, 518. 
Ypres (e'pr'), 551. 
Yu-ca-tan', 631. 

Za'ma, battle of, 167. 
Za'ra, 477. 
Ze'no, 276. 

Zeus (ziis), attributes of, 76 ; Olympian 
games in honor of, 79. 
Zodiac, the, 61. 
Zo-ro-as'ter, 54. 
Zoroastrians, 369, 376. 
Zurich (zoo'rik), 656. 
Zwingh (Ger. pron. tsving'le), 656, 661, 664. 



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